Fairy Tail: Dark Void
by KeySlinger09
Summary: Vanitas Has been freed and is out for revenge against the man who made him into a monster. However, as he ends up in Magnolia, and in turn, meets Fairy tail, he may also find redemption along the way.
1. From Darkness into Light

_In a realm where nothing exists, where all you have for company is the void in which you can easily lose yourself, is his resting place. A long time ago, a teenage boy had worked with a powerful man to bring to life a conspiracy that could've brought about the end of the entire universe. What was worse, the boy was more than happy to go along with the plan, as it involved the destruction of the one person that he hated so much. However, the plan ended in total failure, resulting in the boy fading away into the very darkness that he was born from. Since then, he has been trapped in this realm, wallowing in his anger, an anger that was born from having who he considered weak and worthless defeat him so easily._

 _After all the pain that he had to endure was for nothing. Because he was a heart of pure darkness, the negativity creates psychological torment for him, placing him in a state of living hell. If that wasn't enough, his darkness manifested in the form of creatures that he could control. His anger had gotten the better of him and had lashed out at the creatures. Since they were a part of him, each time he destroyed one, he could feel their pain. The process continued for a while, keeping himself oblivious to the pain as best he could so as to find an outlet for his mindful torment. It lasted for a while, until the dark thoughts and physical pain finally got the better of him, breaking, no, shattering him._

 _It was then that the man who made him… Xehanort… he turned him into the monster that had caused just as much pain that he did. He had taken this opportunity to re-mould him into that monster that had aided him in his plan. After the boy was defeated, he finally regained a part of his original self, as he had become part of the heart that he came from. The heart of another boy who had been chosen to wield a powerful weapon. That weapon was the Keyblade, a key-shaped sword that had the power to lock and unlock any lock._

 _Ironically, the original boy was supposed to be the original helper of the plan, but Xehanort wasn't satisfied with his strength. More specifically, he wanted the boy to unleash the power of darkness, being able to control darkness and use it as a weapon, similarly to how you would hear of wizards of myth and legend using the natural elements as their main arsenals to fight their battles._

 _They had briefly joined back together in order to create a much more powerful Keyblade, one that would unlock the source of all light in the universe. However, the original boy won in the end, destroying the key, allowing the one born from darkness to return to his heart properly, but since the key was also made from his heart, it severely damaged it, causing him to fall into an eternal slumber, and as a result, left the boy born from the dark trapped in an endless void. No way to escape, he had given himself up to the empty realm, accepting that he has no hope. He believed that this would be the end for him._

 _That was what he had kept telling himself. In reality, the boy wished for vengeance upon Xehanort, he would take any opportunity to escape this prison and find a way to end him, even if it was the last thing he would ever do._

 _Luckily, for him, it seemed that fate had a keen interest in helping him._

 _In the darkness, a crack of light formed in the distance. The boy began to become more self-aware, as there was finally something appearing in this realm. The crack kept expanding, until it created a giant hole. What came through was truly surprising. It seemed like a giant, black dragon, coated with blue marks on its body, as well donning bird-like wings, unlike the scaly wings that would be said to be on dragons usually. No sooner had it entered, it had begun draining energy from this realm. The boy felt incredible energy and power radiating from him, but as he somehow drew more power from the realm he became more than fifty times more powerful. When it was finished, it made its way out of the realm through the hole it came in through._

 _The boy couldn't have been more surprised. He saw the hole was beginning to shrink. Now that the realm had been weakened, the boy was able to free more freely, and so had decided to take the opportunity to exit the prison. Now that he could use his body more freely, he began generating dark energy. He built it up around the soles of his feet. An aura of black energy formed around him, increasing his strength and speed. Combining these, he hoped that he could "springboard" his way through the gate. Mustering all the power he could, he launched himself at top speed, feeling wind resistance and adrenaline, determination rising as he zoomed to the gateway, hoping to take back his freedom._

… _._

He opened his eyes and took in a large breath of air. Feeling the air on his skin was quite a surprise, as was the warmth he felt from what seemed to be the sun. The more his senses returned to him, he began taking notice of where he was. He took in the grass that he was lying on, dabbled with dew. The tall trees that towered high above him, seeming mighty in their natural region. There were many unusual plants growing around them as well.

It was an incredibly peaceful feeling. It wasn't something he wasn't accustomed to. Feeling uncomfortable, he sat up, wanting to see more of the area around him. Soon, a thought occurred to him. He raised his hand and focused on summoning his weapon. Appearing in half a second, was a sword in the shape of a key. It was made up of multiple red and black gears, with a light blue eye at the top, where the gear shaped teeth also stuck out. It was could for catching onto things if necessary, or for extra impact if you were hitting something.

He was relieved to see that he could wield the weapon. His Keyblade. His was different to other keyblades he had come across. His was an artificial weapon, since his original light half was able to use a Keyblade naturally, a dark version had formed for him. With it, he could utilize a number of abilities, firing fire, ice, lightning and darkness from it, sinking beneath the ground and launching out for a surprise attack, teleporting, etc.

He had been trapped within that darkness, unable to move, unable to use any of his power. As a result, he has lost a certain amount of his strength. However, that doesn't mean he won't be able to regain it. Even stronger than ever. It was now his new goal. To become powerful enough to have his vengeance.

He stood up and decided to explore the area a bit more, hoping that there would be a town where he can gather some supplies. As he was about to move, he looked down and realised that he was wearing new clothes. He was now in a button shirt, crimson on the top half, but faded into black as it went to the bottom. He also wore navy jeans, black free-running shoes and a furry, elastic wrist band that was about 2 and a half inches. He noticed that it had the symbol for the unversed on it, the monsters he was able to summon. It was surprising, but not an unusual concept. They were apart of him, so the appearance of the symbol makes sense.

He walked through the forest, taking in the scene, finding it relaxing. The further he went on, the more curious he would be about what would be at the end of his journey. He walked around for a few minutes before he came to the edge of the forest. He saw a path of dry soil, seemingly used quite often with all the wheel tracks and footprints left on the road. Thinking that this path could help to lead him to a town.

"HELP, PLEASE, SOMEONE DO SOMETHING!"

The boy turned around and, in the distance, he could make out a young woman screaming, seeing a carriage driving off into, what to her was the distance, but to him was his direction. Seeing nothing better to do, he summoned his Keyblade, taking his battle stance, his feet more than a shoulder width wide, sticking his free hand out into the open while he held his weapon above his head. He decided a good way to deal with them. He aimed the Keyblade at the carriage, making out faces of greedy thugs on it. The tip of his weapon began to build up a bright blue energy, increasing in size greatly by the second.

After five seconds, he released the energy, firing the energy ball at a high speed. He could tell the thugs noticed build-up of energy on the weapon, and were terrified when they saw the energy flying towards them like a rocket. Things weren't made easier for them when it impacted, creating an explosion that knocked them off, but left the carriage unscathed. The boy dematerialised the weapon and teleported onto the carriage. He grabbed the reigns of the horses that were moving the carriage, trying to slow them down. It was a tad more difficult than expected, but he managed to stop and calm the horses. As they came to a stop, the boy relaxed and laid back in the carriage seat. That was certainly a new experience for him, allowing himself a smile at how he managed the situation incredibly well.

He heard footsteps behind him. He turned around to find the girl in the distance that he saw earlier. Now that she was closer, he was able to see that she had brown hair, green eyes and tanned skin. She was certainly out of breath, the way she was breathing heavily and how she was bending over from exhaustion. The poor girl must've ran at the speed of light to catch up to the carriage. He jumped off and made his way to the girl.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked

The girl perked up at the sound of his voice. She looked up at him, than looked him up and down. She realised at what she was doing, and quickly stood up and quickly bowed.

His response was a raised eyebrow. "Uh, are you… okay?" he asked her.

She stood straight up with a worried look on her face.

"I'm sorry, I just… I'm not sure how to thank you for helping me." A thought suddenly dawned on her. "Are you with the other mages?" she asked hopefully.

The boy was now both confused, but curious. "Other mages?"

"Yes, we hired them to kill a monster that has been attacking my village for…" she quickly grew silent. She spoke again. "This monster has been killing my friends and family for years now. It has been going after my village for decades. He tried looking for help before, but they failed. Now though, we have found wizards who have faced gods and won without a problem. They might finally save us."

The boy had his interest caught by hearing how powerful these people were. They might be able to help him train to become stronger. He stared straight into her face.

"Maybe I can as well. I can fight, so I'm willing to offer my services. All I ask is that you take me to these people, please." Stated the boy.

The girl was beaming. "Thank you, thank you very, very, very much. You are so kind"

This caused the boy to freeze. The memories of his past deeds flashed back, reminding him that he was no hero. He never was one, and he knew that he never would be.

They were about to make their way to the village when the girl stopped and turned to him.

"My name is Chloe, by the way, if you don't mind, is it alright if you tell me your name?" she asked.

He looked at her straight in the face, solemnly reminding himself of the past.

"My name… is Vanitas"

…

"Aw man… I'm soooooo hungry" complained a pink haired, teenage boy. His hair was quite spiky also. He only wore a sleeveless jacket and a white, scaly scarf on his top half, and a pair of white, baggy shorts and black sandals on his bottom half. He was lying on the ground with a drooling mouth, imagining all his favourite foods. He had been forced to eat very little of what he had on him, after an accident left him and his friends without the food they brought with them.

Another teenage boy stood over him with a grumpy expression on his face. He wore a long, white coat, a t-shirt and navy jeans. He had black spikey hair and a scar on his forehead.

"Well, maybe if some numbskull hadn't burned all of our food on the way over here, you wouldn't be in this state." He said callously.

The pink-haired teen forgot his hunger briefly, now replaced with anger.

"Shut up Gray!" he said to the black-haired teen.

"You shut up Natsu!" he replied.

The two teens, named Natsu and Gray, were on the verge of killing each other. As Natsu's anger grew, an aura of flame ignited around him, just as Gray began forming ice around his body as his rage also rose.

"I take it you two are getting along well?" came another voice. This voice evaporated their rage and filled them with incredible fear. They quickly shifted from their battle stances to wrapping their arms around each other, shaking each other's hands.

"Yep, we're getting along just fine, right buddy?" said Gray with a frightened tone and a false smile on his face.

"Aye, buddy." Replied Natsu, doing the same imitation as Gray.

The speaker was a woman with long, red hair, brown eyes, dressed in armour and long boots. He had a sense of pride and authority, but also a sliver of kindness that was well hidden, as she was focused on stopping the fight between Natsu and Gray. They finally managed to relax and they all sat down together in the tent Natsu was staying in.

"So, Erza, did Lucy have any luck in finding the monster yet?" asked Gray.

The scarlet haired woman shook her head. "No, she and Wendy seem to think that the creature has the ability to mask its power and scent, so it can hunt its pray more easily."

Natsu slammed his fist into the ground, making a crack in the ground.

"Coward!" he exclaimed.

"Even so, there's got to be a way to find it." Stated Gray.

Erza sighed. "Well, there's no point getting worked up over it. We should call Lucy and Wendy, tell them to call it a day." She stood up and made her way out of the tent. As soon as she was gone, Natsu and Gray were at each other's throats again. No sooner had she left, she came back in briefly.

"I trust you two will keep the fighting to a minimal until we find the beast?"

Natsu and Gray put their false smiles back on.

"No problem" responded Gray.

"Aye sir!" said Natsu.

…..

Not too far away from the village, a blond haired woman wearing a tank top, a skirt and sandals was investigating a set of old ruins that, according to the villagers, was the last place the monster had shown up before it went back in to hiding. She was frustrated, as the creature seemed to have left no trace of its presence. At first she thought it was a trick, but she saw the sincerity of the villagers and continued to look.

"Any luck Lucy?" came a voice.

The woman, apparently named Lucy turned to see a small girl with blue hair in a dress of green and gold. With her were two cats, both using wings as they flew at either side of her. One of the cats was a blue tomcat with black eyes, who was radiating with positivity. The other was a white-furred female cat who wore a pink dress and a ribbon on her tail. She seemed to have both a posh attitude and a dislike of the blue cat.

"Wendy, you're back, I see you brought Happy and Carla with you too." She said, glad to see them. She immediately fell into a depressed mood. "I haven't found a thing."

The girl smiled at her. "Don't worry, we'll find something." She stated. "Right Happy?" she asked the blue cat.

"Aye!" answered Happy.

"Right Carla?" she asked the noble-like cat.

"I'm sure that something will appear. However, I do think that we need to find a new way of tracking the beast."

"You're not wrong, I guess… but I can't just think of a way to do it." Lucy was remarkably well at solving puzzles and mysteries. Whatever they were dealing with, however, seemed to have gotten the better of her. She was afraid of Natsu making fun of her if he found out.

She jumped when a thought came to her.

"Guys, where's Natsu?"

"Over here!" came Natsu's voice in the distance. The group turned to see Natsu, Gray and Erza making their way towards them.

"What's up? Why'd you ask for me?" he asked.

"I've an idea to bring the beast out of hiding, all we need to do is-"she stopped when a cold shiver went down her spine. She saw that it affected her friends at the same time. She felt the ground shake beneath her. Fearing the worst, she screamed to her friends to move.

Almost all of them managed to move in time. Something erupted from the ground, shooting towards the sky at high speed. With it, it took Gray and Carla into the air. Their friends watched in horror.

"GRAY! CARLA! MOVE NOW!" screamed Natsu.

They didn't hear him, they were both knocked unconscious. They were helpless as they were in range of a massive creature. It was the size of a castle, covered in thick scales, all sharpened to the point that the ends flashed in the light. The creature had wings instead of arms, both glowing with intense energy. It had a long neck covered with the same scales, but it split into two the further you looked along it, revealing two heads, each shaped like a T-Rex's and both having black eyes that glowed with the same energy as the wings. It had no legs, only a large, certainly a feature that would help with manoeuvrability.

It was the very monster they were looking for. A creature that was only known as "The Nightmare".

"Wow, that thing's huge." Commented Happy after registering what he saw

"Don't just focus on the monster!" exclaimed Lucy, reminding him that their friends were in trouble.

Natsu's hands were quickly engulfed with flame, as Wendy's hair and eyes changed to a bright, pink colour, Erza summoned a sword out of thin air and Lucy pulled out a golden key. Happy released his wings and grabbed onto Natsu, aiming to help Natsu fly up to the creature so that they could take the fight to it.

"ALRIGHT, I'M FIRED UP NOW!" he roared with determination and fury.

…

"Where did you learn how to use magic?" asked Chloe with interest. She wished to make conversation with Vanitas while they made their way to the village.

Vanitas was taken back by the question "Learned? I was already born with these powers. I guess… someone still helped me learn how to use it properly. The only problem was the guy was the worst kind of person imaginable. He… maybe its best if I don't say anymore."

"Oh, okay. I'm sorry if I upset you." She said.

"No, you didn't. It's the memory of that guy that makes my blood boil." He shook his head, storing the memories to the back of his head. "So, anyway, what else can you tell me about this beast and-"

An explosion went off in the distance. A blast of air came their way, sending Chloe in to air. Vanitas teleported into the air and caught her, before returning to his original spot. He shielded her from the rest of the wind, up until it finally ended. He helped her back onto the ground and both witnessed a giant creature emerge from the ground. He noticed Chloe was about to shiver.

"That's it… that's the creature… it shouldn't be out yet." Her voice was filled with terror. She turned to Vanitas.

Surprisingly, he looked like he was about to laugh.

"Wh-what is wrong with you? The creature is out and you think it's funny!?" she screamed.

"You got it wrong Chloe… I think it's hilarious that he left himself open like that." He allowed himself a small smile and lowered his brow.

"Better watch out… There's no escape." He said softly. He grabbed onto Chloe, soon after teleporting to an area far away from the beast. He asked her to stay there and teleported again. It was time to see what he was really made of.

….

Natsu was in mid combat with is ignited fist against the creature, snapping both its jaws in hopes of crushing him beneath its teeth. Neither were yet worn from the fight, and both were only becoming more agitated by the fight. It raised its wings, preparing to flap its wings and blow him away when it felt a strong, concentrated blast of wind it in the back. It turned and saw Wendy, shooting a tornado from her mouth, putting an unbelievably strong amount of energy behind it. While Natsu had to rely on Happy for flight, Wendy had mastered how to use her sky magic, a combination of wind and nature magic, and was capable of flight.

Lucy and Erza were on the ground, guarding Gray and Carla as they were knocked out cold. They wished to join the fight, but someone needed to care for them.

They weren't worried that much for Natsu or Wendy, they were able to take care of themselves. When they were little, they were orphaned and taken under the care of powerful dragons, both of which imparted knowledge on how to use a dragon's power. Since then, Wendy was able to use Sky magic taught by her adoptive mother, the Sky Dragon Grandine, while Natsu was trained to the limit by his adoptive father, the king of the fire dragons, Igneel.

Thus, the two had become some of the most famous form of magical warriors, the Dragon Slayers.

They were keeping the creature busy for quite some time, using as many magical attacks as they knew to try and take it out. Unfortunately, the attacks only served to irritate the creature. To release its frustration, it let out an earth-shattering cry, blasting the Dragon Slayers away. The scream was loud enough to send a sharp pain through the teams head. It caused even more pain for Natsu and Wendy, as their magic also gave them unimaginably sharp senses.

They both fell unconscious; Happy managing to hold Natsu, but was forced to watch as Wendy was plummeting to the ground. Lucy and Erza saw this, Erza being able to react faster and had ran with as much speed as possible. She leaped up into the air and caught Wendy, unaware that the creature was building up a visible energy in both its mouths. Erza turned and saw the beast fire the energy. Time seemed to slow as she saw the bright, pale stream of energy make its way toward her and Wendy. She tried to summon a weapon to defend herself, but she wasn't quick enough.

The blast had engulfed them both. When it was gone, all that was left was a crater.

Lucy stared at the spot as tears started streaming down her face; she saw two of her closest friends annihilated in a single shot. The pain was too much to bare. Just as he legs gave out, however, she heard a new voice, a boy's voice, chuckle behind her. She turned and saw a teenage boy, slightly younger than Natsu and Gray, with black spiky hair, a crimson and black button shirt, navy jeans, a wrist band and black shoes. On both sides of him, were the two ladies who were supposed to be destroyed by the beast's attack.

Lucy began crying even harder, overwhelmed by happiness and relief for the safety of her friends.

"Erza… Wendy… you're okay…" she managed to say.

The boy walked past her, focusing his attention on the beast, but speaking to her all the same.

"They're going to need some rest for a bit. Take them somewhere safe. If you want to join the fight, I'll leave enough of it to let you have some fun."

Lucy turned to the boy, catching on to his intention to fight the beast.

You can't, it'll kill you; it's too strong!" she said.

The boy smirked. "If I were you, I'd be more worried about this so called "Nightmare" before me."

" _Nightmare?_ " she thought.

The boy lifted his right arm above his head and summoned a sword, one that looked like a key made of gears. No sooner had he done so did he rush towards it with incredible speed. His first move was striking the side of the beast with his weapon, slicing off a number of its sharp scales in the process. Quickly after, he leapt up into the air and launched himself towards the back of the creature, embedding his blade into the beasts back and making sure that he wouldn't be penetrated by the beast's spiky scales. The beast was roaring in pain and surprise from the wounds it had received.

Lucy was at a loss for words, the boy was slicing and dicing a creature that had managed to take down her friends in a flash. Whoever he was, he couldn't have been human.

The boy then decided to take another approach. The creature had been trying to hit him with smaller versions of the large beam attack that he saved the girls from; he saw that each time one was fired, part of the wings would glow briefly. He assumed that whatever was giving the monster energy was embedded in the wings, so opted for the best option presenting itself at the moment.

He teleported away from the beast and allowed himself to sink into the ground. It left behind a shadow that soon started to move swiftly towards the Nightmare. When it was directly under one of its wings, the boy launched himself from the shadow and lightning speed, his weapon outstretched as he spun in the air. He struck the wing, slicing it off. He high in the air when he launched himself toward the other wing, lunging the blade at it and allowed the weapon to separate the other wing from the Nightmare. The creature swiftly fell to the ground.

The boy teleported directly in front of the creature before back stepping. He raised his weapon in the air and three dark blue crystals appeared around him, swirling around him in a clockwise direction. He pointed the weapon forward and the crystals shot out energy at the tip, build up a strong concentration of energy. When he was satisfied with the level of energy, he bellowed

"DARK CANNON!"

The energy shot from the weapon, creating an incredible horizontal pillar of energy. It was three times the size of the blast the Nightmare unleashed. It engulfed it. The blast didn't last very long, but when it was finished, the crippled creature began fading into dust.

…..

Vanitas looked at his Keyblade with astonishment.

" _Looks like this place just gave me boost in power. A big boost."_ He dematerialised his weapon, frowning. " _It's still not enough though._ "

He suddenly remembered the girls and turned to see the blond haired woman he spoke to earlier, staring at him with awe.

"What?" he asked.

…

Sometime after the fallen magic users had recovered, Lucy filled them in on what happened. The boy, who introduced himself as Vanitas, was soon introduced to Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Erza Scarlet, Lucy Heartfilia, Wendy and the cats, Happy and Carla.

"So, you guys were out on a job to beat that thing? That thing didn't seem like something you could beat easily." Said Vanitas.

"Like you can say that, you took it out like it was a piece of cake." Commented Lucy.

"Are you an S-Class mage?" asked Wendy.

"No, I just spent most of my life fighting strong people. It's not the nicest way to live, but it got results. Never mind me though. So Natsu and Wendy are "Dragonslayers", that I know now; what can you guys do?" he asked the rest of the group.

Lucy was the first to answer. "I can summon celestial spirits to help me in a fight. I can also use part of the power of the spirit I'm using so I can get a piece of the action."

Erza stood up and, rather than use words, her body began to glow a bright, yellow like, coating her entirely. When it faded, she was wearing a new set of armour. It had a red-orange and black colour scheme, it had wings at the back, an armour plated skirt, left her shoulders exposed and her hair was tied into two pony tails. She also carried a large sword that matched the colours of her armour.

"I have the ability to switch weapons and armour at my will, storing them in a pocket dimension in case I need it. It's called "Re-equip Magic". She soon changed back into her original armour.

The air soon grew cold around them. Vanitas turned towards Gray, realising that he was the source. He held his hands together for a moment before releasing it, revealing a small ice-sculptor of the unversed emblem. This surprised Vanitas.

"I can control ice and mould it to any shape I please. I saw the symbol on your wristband and thought I'd try it. But that's not all." The skin on his hand suddenly became charcoal black, with the same colour crawling up his skin, spreading like blood through his veins. His hair also began to stand up on its own. "I'm also a "Demonslayer". It's similar to Natsu and Wendy's magic, but this brand is focused on killing demons. It's also ice-based, in case you asked."

Vanitas was most impressed with the latter part of Gray's power. He was able to utilise dark magic without becoming corrupted, something no warrior was able to accomplish before. He finally turned to Happy and Carla.

"Can you guys use magic too?" he asked.

His question was answered with a pair of wings appearing behind each of them.

"We can use Area Magic, a type of flight magic. It helps Natsu and Lucy a lot since they have really bad motion sickness."

"Why'd you have to say that Happy?" asked Natsu. His face went blue and the whites of his eyes were showing. Vanitas assumed he was remembering his last experience on a vehicle of some kind. He turned back to the cats to see a young girl where Carla once stood.

"I am able to turn into human form, so as to become faster and stronger during a fight. Something poor happy seems to be struggling with." Explained Carla. Her statement about Happy seemed to upset the blue cat.

"Well, who knows, Happy here may have a hidden talent that isn't easy to access." Offered Vanitas.

This perked up Happy immediately. He suddenly pulled out a frying pan in his right paw and a fish in his left paw. "You mean catching and preparing fish?" he asked.

"Uh… not quite what I meant, but…"

What about you Vanitas?" asked a recovered Natsu

Vanitas was hesitant to answer, but thought that it was only fair to tell them. He built up a dark aura around him, also creating a ball of fire, ice, lightning, air and so on.

"I'm able to manipulate darkness as a primary thing. I'm also able to use different magic for different situations. As well as the elements, I can control space, time and gravity to a degree."

The rest of the mages' jaws dropped, blown away that he has this much control over magic.

" _I'll save the Keyblade for later."_ He thought to himself. If more people knew about it, he would become a target for many people who wish to take that power for themselves.

"What about that sword I saw you use?" Lucy asked.

"That, uh… was something I made a while back. I thought it would look cool." He answered, remembering that she saw him use it during the fight. She didn't look convinced, but she let the matter drop.

"We could use a guy like you." stated Natsu. Everyone turned to him. "Anyone who can take out a thing like that can surely help increase Fairy Tail's reputation."

"Fairy Tail?" Vanitas asked. He suddenly remembered the girl Chloe talking about a mage guild; quickly connecting the dots. "Do you want me to join?"

"That's up to you, but we would be honoured if you would." came in Erza. The rest of the team looked very hopeful. Vanitas took a bit of time to take it all in, before coming up with his decision in two words.

"I can't." the team suddenly looked crestfallen.

"It's not that I'm not interested. The problem is that I've got too much on my plate at the moment, and if I joined you guys I would only be burdening you." He stood up on his feet. "I'm sorry." He then teleported away.

"Wait… WHAT!" Natsu was furious. He was about to create an explosion with his flaming fists before Lucy stopped him.

"It's his decision. We can't make him change his mind." Lucy said. Natsu still wasn't happy, but he calmed down all the same.

"You never know." Carla stood up with her arms folded. "The boy way change his mind when he has finished with his priorities."

"Never took you for an optimist Carla." Responded Erza. Carla frowned at the statement, but soon let it drop.

…

Vanitas stood on a cliff by himself, staring into the distance, wandering what course of action to take now.

"No way am I going to let anyone, friend or foe, get in my way of Xehanort." He muttered to himself. As he spoke, a memory returned to him.

" _Hm. It's always about your friends isn't it?"_

" _At least I have some. I've become a part of their heart, just as they've become a part of mine. My friends are my power, and I'm theirs!"_

Vanitas snapped back into reality. The words of his light half struck him. He lifted his right hand towards the setting sun, repeating that one word to himself.

" _Friends…_ "

….

Natsu and his team were walking along a path in the dark, now that the sun has finally set. They were all a little disappointed at Vanitas' refusal, they would've liked to get to know him. It was something that they were going to have to except.

A whistle came from behind them. They turned to see the spiky haired swordsman they were talking to earlier.

"Hey, is the offer still open?" he asked casually.


	2. A new home

After Vanitas had joined Natsu's group, or what they called "Team Natsu", they made their way over to their hometown. On the way, Lucy began indulging Vanitas in how she came to join Fairy Tail. She met Natsu in a fishing village called Hargeon. At the time, a wizard was charming the women of the town and planning on capturing them. If it wasn't for Natsu, she would be a slave by now. Vanitas was impressed, and he chuckled at how he had destroyed half the town in the process.

"I'm guessing he goes overboard a lot." Vanitas said.

Lucy sighed. "There isn't a day he doesn't go overboard. Even when he's having a friendly sparring match, he ends up making it into a serious fight. It's a miracle the town hasn't run us out of town yet."

Vanitas chuckled again. "Wow. By the way, what's this town like?"

"It's called Magnolia, our guild was founded there. The founders saved the town from an evil mage guild and a giant monster, they were so grateful they made the first guild hall." Lucy explained.

"Is there ever a boring day with your guild?" his question was answered when he saw Gray flying at high velocity. He teleported out of his way, but forgot to bring Lucy with him, leaving her to cushion him as he landed. They both were groaning with pain. Lucy got up and looked for the dark warrior.

"You know, if you were going to do that, you could've brought me with you." She exclaimed.

Vanitas appeared in front of her, with a mix of humour and sympathy. Sorry about that, I was working on reflex." he explained. He turned to check on Gray when he received a small shock, as he saw the ice mage was wearing only his underpants.

"Uh, Gray, are you alright?" Vanitas asked.

"Yeah, Why?" Gray responded.

Vanitas pointed his right index finger downwards directly in front of his body, indicating Gray to look at himself. The ice-mage looked at himself and realised that he wasn't wearing his clothes.

"Woah, when did this happen?" Gray said, perplexed at his current state of dress.

Natsu came up behind him and slammed his fist into the top of Gray's head."

"QUIT WALKING AROUND LIKE THAT YOU PERVERT!" yelled Natsu.

"HOW ABOUT YOU QUIT HITTING PEOPLE AS IF THEY'RE YOUR PERSONAL PUNCHING BAGS!" yelled back Gray.

They both charged up their powers to the limit. They were about to unleash their full strength when Vanitas lashed out his hand.

"Slow!" he exclaimed.

As soon as he said it, the two mages were covered in a purple aura. When it faded, they were moving at a snail's pace. Vanitas took the opportunity to get between them and give them each a right-cross punch in the face. Vanitas looked around and found Gray's clothes, he picked them up and threw them at Gray's slow moving body. After a few seconds, the spell wore off and the two quickly fell to the ground.

"Huh, what happened?" asked Natsu.

"Feels like I was hit with a punch from Erza." Stated Gray.

"Not quite." Said Erza. The two were looking at her. "Vanitas used an interesting spell to slow you two down and knock some sense into you. I don't mind, it's nice to have a break every once in a while."

"Woah." Natsu was surprised.

"Why are you surprised?" asked Carla. "He already told us he could control time to a degree."

Vanitas sighed and simply continued walking in their set direction. He was curious about if anyone else in their guild was as wild as them. He was about to ask when he heard Happy scream. They all turned to the direction where the scream came from. They rushed toward the source of the sound. They stopped when they saw Happy staring out into the sea, seemingly dazed by something.

"Hey, Happy, you good?" asked Natsu. He waved his hand in front of his head to get his attention, but it didn't work. He too gazed in the direction Happy was staring at, unsure what was catching his friend's attention.

"I… I saw it." Whispered Happy.

This caught the Fire Dragonslayer's attention. "What is it Happy, what did you see?"

Without warning, something erupted from the water. There was a large wave of water headed in the team's direction. Gray stepped in front and pointed his hands right in front of him, cold air coming off his hands.

"Ice make-" he plunged his hands into the ground, "Shield!" a massive chunk of ice came out of the ground shaped like a bunch of leafs stuck together. The ice barrier protected them from the wave that would've washed them away. The shield disappeared when the water stopped. What had caused the eruption in the water was an enormous water creature that seemed like a cod with blades for fins, with a blue gas emitting from its gills.

"FIIIIISH!" yelled Happy, whose mouth was watering from the sight of the beast. This caused Vanitas to lower his head and pinch the bridge of his nose. He thought that the cat had seen a monster that was preparing to attack them. He was close to summoning his Keyblade and using a lightning spell.

"That stomach of yours…" Vanitas said.

"I can't help it, it's so big and yummy, and smells sooo good. Let me get my pan!" Happy said.

"You're not seriously thinking of eating that, are you?" Carla asked in disgust.

"But it looks tasty." Happy replied.

"You thought the same thing about the flying fish, don't you remember where that got you?" asked Lucy. Mentioning the flying fish immediately turned the blue cat's face green. Wendy also felt a bit sick, having tasted that particular breed of fish before, so she knew better than anyone here how she felt. Natsu was staring at the fish and was wearing a mischievous smile on his face.

He ignited his fists. "I say we try it out after beating the hell out of it!" he was about to move when Vanitas teleported right in front of him.

"If I were you I'd rest a little longer before getting into a fight, that roar had to cause a splitting headache." Vanitas pointed out. "One of the downsides of a Dragonslayer's super hearing. Besides, it would be best only to fight if someone is wanting to cause us trouble; this thing doesn't mean harm." His last statement surprised the rest of the group.

"How do you know that?" Erza asked.

"You know I told you I can use darkness, right? What I forgot to mention is that I can sense the inner darkness of any living being; I can tell where it is, how strong its negativity is, and if the creature want's to harm us. Here, the shadows of the fish's heart say that if prefers piece over violence." The rest of the group were even more surprised.

"Is there anything you can't do?" Gray asked.

"Yep, lots of things. That's why I focus on sharpening on what I can do." answered Vanitas. He knew that Gray was asking sarcastically, but answered the question all the same so as to illustrate the point of keeping your powers at their optimal level. With that, he was suddenly reminded of how he had used his dark sensors to see into people hearts from other worlds.

Solely just to revel in the fear of those people.

Putting the memory at the back of his mind, he turned back to see Natsu grinning.

"You got that right. No pain, no game. And no game, means no fun, so staying tough is all that matters."

Natsu, I'm not just talking about-" Vanitas started, but the ground suddenly began to shake. He turned to see the fish staring at their direction. Vanitas was confused; the creature seemed like it was preparing to fight, but he still didn't sense any malevolence from it. It was as if…

Vanitas mind clicked in gear when he realised what was going on. He looked back into the sea and saw that his theory was correct. Without hesitation, he leaped off the edge and dived into the water. The rest of the team were confused with this, running after him and stopping at the ledge. They all looked at each other in confusion.

"What exactly is he doing?" asked Erza.

"I don't know." Lucy replied. "Maybe he-", she stopped when she noticed something at the side of the giant fish. What she noticed was a large boat hidden behind the beast. On it were fisherman, each carrying a firearm and had large leers on their faces, growing as they brought a fish on board, it was the size of a small wagon and was the same species of the giant fish. The latter roaring when it saw the smaller fish on board with its rolling eye. She gasped when she realised that they were poachers, and they were after the beast's offspring.

She gestured to everyone to come see what she was seeing. When they saw what was going on, they were all hit with a feeling of disgust.

"You've got to be kidding me." Natsu said.

"Wait, you guys don't think this is the thing those nature activists were on about in Sorcerer Weekly, do you?" asked Gray.

Earlier on their journey to find Nightmare, Lucy bought a copy of the popular wizard magazine, Sorcerer Weekly. It had an article on a rare water creature which is on the verge of being extinct. The author of the article was asking for support in protecting the creature. Unfortunately, this made it into a valuable target for poachers.

"I think my tummy is getting upset." Happy said, shaken at what he was seeing.

"Do… do you think Vanitas saw it?" asked Wendy.

"If so, we should be careful." They all turned to Erza. "We have to stop them, but we need to show extreme restraint so as not to harm the creature."

"…, Alright." answered Natsu.

The rest nodded in agreement. They were about to move when a blue flame launched itself from the water.

….

"Well, would you look at that." Said one of the poachers, grinning at having caught such a prize. The bladed cod offspring was flopping on the deck, breathing in the terrible oxygen. The poachers were just standing around it. They suddenly heard a loud noise, it seemed to be coming from the larger fish.

"Looks like mamma fish is getting angry." Said another poacher.

The first one spoke again. "Let's get out of here before-" he was interrupted when a pillar of blue flame erupted from the water, right next to the boat. The poachers readied their firearms and fired at the pillar, hoping to eliminate what was causing it.

" _They're only wasting their time…"_

Vanitas launched out of the flame, Keyblade in hand, aiming for one of the poachers. He held it in a reverse grip and started spinning, mid-air. He reached the first poacher, but seemingly phased through him before landing on deck. He turned and saw how slow they seemed to be moving. This was because Vanitas was simply too quick, making everything seem slower. He smiled as he had the upper hand. He rushed towards the others, slashing his Keyblade once each time he rushed towards one. He turned towards the baby fish. He was fighting at high speed so that he could help the fish sooner.

" _I think it's time I stopped letting living things suffer._ " He gave a quick glance at the poachers. " _Well, the innocent anyway._ " He returned his focus to the fish. He stuck is Keyblade in the wooden planks of the floor and rushed towards the fish, picked it up and threw it back into the water. He clicked his fingers and time resumed to its normal state. The poachers were surprised to see the attacker behind them. They tried to fire their weapons, but they didn't respond. The reason soon revealed itself when each firearm separated into multiple pieces.

He had sliced all the weapons into pieces before anyone could blink.

They all began shaking their legs with fear. They couldn't believe that someone like this existed. Vanitas had his gaze lowered, deciding what to do next. When he decided, he raised his head, revealing a pair of yellow eyes that had vicious intent written in them. He raised his Keyblade into the air, at the same time, the water began to ripple around the boat.

"TAKE THIS!"

The boat suddenly launched up into the air; another pillar, this one being made of water, was filled with enough force to launch it like a rocket. It remained in the air for a bit, before the pillar tilted and shot the boat onto dry land.

…

"Woah…" was all Lucy could say. The rest of the group was impressed. They weren't sure what to say. Except for Natsu.

"What did I tell you, he's definitely Fairy Tail material. That fire pillar was pretty cool too." He patted his stomach with both his hands. "And hungry."

The rest of the group sighed in defeat at Natsu's behaviour. They took the liberty of going to where the boat landed. When they arrived, they saw all of the poachers were unconscious on a sandy area. They were, however, starting to regain consciousness. They waited until they were fully recovered. When they were all awake, they all noticed a group of people behind them, as well as two cats. One of the poachers gasped in horror when he realised who they were.

"Oh man, those are wizards from Fairy Tail!" he exclaimed. The rest of them all became white as sheets, and ran off so as to escape whatever they might do. Gray anticipated this and jumped into the air. He built up a ball of ice in his hands and launched it at the animal hunters.

"Ice make cage!" The ball split into multiple pieces and transformed into one man cages. They were all trapped in seconds. Gray landed on the ground and observed his handiwork, allowing himself a wide grin. The rest of the team caught up to him. Natsu was jealous that Gray captured them all before he had the chance to take action.

"Aw man, why didn't you let me try, I don't need to hold back now that we're away from the fish. Why do you and Vanitas get all the fun?"

"Just be lucky I stepped in before you blew them up, literally." retorted Gray.

"I'd say Vanitas already took care of that." Carla was facing the boat they were on and saw how it was heavily damaged, and resting on top of a tree.

"Wait… where is Vanitas?" Wendy asked. They all looked around and realised that he was gone. They immediately went off in separate directions to look for him. What they didn't know was that he was actually at the bottom of the sea.

…

" _This isn't good_." Vanitas thought.

Vanitas realised that he made a stupid mistake. He put too much power into that last attack. After sending the boat into the air, he accidently sent a boulder in the water up along as well, which struck Vanitas with full force. He was sent flying into the air. The boulder went up higher than him and, as Vanitas lost concentration, he ended up getting slammed by it again and was pushed down to the bottom of the ocean by it. He tried to push it off him, but he found that he used up too much energy and was unable to move the large rock. It was an unusual situation for him; if he could, he would laugh at how hilarious he thought it was. Nevertheless, he persevered to try and find him.

" _Okay… this might be difficult."_ He thought. He was running out of air and needed to move. At this stage, though, he knew that only a miracle can save him now.

It seemed that once again, his prayers were answered.

Vanitas suddenly felt the rock become lighter and lighter. He looked and saw the rock floating off of him. He took the opportunity and pushed himself out. He paused for a moment to see what had happened and saw two of the baby blade fish. They were on opposite sides of the rock, each having a fin-blade imbedded in the rock. As they saw Vanitas escape, they easily pulled out the fins and let the rock sink. Vanitas was astonished at their strength. He nodded to them as a form of gratitude, as he would be unable to speak underwater.

He suddenly remembered that he was running out of air. As such, he gave them a quick thumbs up and swam as fast as he could.

….

The Fairy Tail gang returned to where they captured the poachers. They had no luck in finding their new recruit. It was as if he had completely vanished. They were beginning to panic now.

"Oh no, this is bad, really bad!" yelled Happy. He and Carla were flying above, trying to get a bird's eye view in hopes of spotting him. They had no luck.

"What happened to him?" Wendy was starting to cry from the panic she was feeling.

"Alright, stay calm… I'm sure that he is alright. He has proven that he is more than capable of taking care of himself. I'm sure that he is alright." Carla said.

Natsu was beginning to lose his temper. He was looking in all directions, worried for his new friend. He raised his fists into air and roared into the sky. When he was finished, the yelled at the top of his voice.

"WHERE THE HELL DID HE GO!"

To answer his question, a lone figure rocketed from the water. They looked at the figure and watched as he landed perfectly on his feet. The figure stood up and the team recognised their new friend and recruit.

"Hey everybody." said Vanitas

"YOU'RE OKAY!" they all yelled.

Wendy was the first to launch herself at Vanitas. As she wrapped her arms around him, he suddenly became increasingly uncomfortable. He took long, silent breaths, trying to make sure no one notices his discomfort. He just simply smiled and nodded his head.

"Thanks for your concern guys. Sorry for the scare." Vanitas said.

As Wendy let go, Natsu gave him a small punch in the shoulder. He warned Vanitas not to do that again, else he would crush him into the ground. Vanitas said he would like to see him try, agitating Natsu slightly. They heard water splashing behind them; they turned and the dark warrior recognised the blade fish that saved his life. He waved his hands into the air and yelled "Thanks for the safe."

The fish continued to splash around, seeming happy. They soon returned to the water, back to their mother. The Fairy Tail team smiled, but Vanitas began to brood. He was reminded of the number of lives that he helped ruin. He sighed and continued to stare out into the water. Maybe he would make up for what he had done. It wasn't likely, but there was no harm in hoping… at least, he hoped so.

Wendy looked up at him and noticed his change in mood. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Vanitas nodded. While he remained silent, he looked in her direction and gave her a small smile.

Without warning, he fell to his knees, screaming in pain. He looked down at his leg and saw it was hit with an arrow. He turned and saw that it was one of the poachers, only he had a crossbow in hand. Gritting his teeth, Vanitas got back on his feet and, much to the surprise of Team Natsu, fired a ball of dark fire in the shooter's direction. It blew up his cage and sent him flying. He summoned his Keyblade and lunged at him. The shooter thought that he was going to kill him. When extremely close, the shooter screamed in fear at the top of his lungs. His eyes were shut at the time, but after a few seconds he felt nothing. He opened his eyes and saw the dark warrior's weapon right up against his neck. He looked at the boy's face and saw a cold and steely glare, sending a chill down his spine so strong he could've sworn he was trapped in a giant ice-cube.

"You shouldn't have done that. You try to hurt those creatures and try to take me out too. You're not very smart are you?"

The poacher was now shaking. He pleaded with Vanitas to spare him, saying he will do anything he asked. Vanitas took a few seconds to respond. He dematerialised his Keyblade and kicxked him right in the face, knocking him out cold. He turned and saw the rest of the group staring at him, once again witnessing another surprising feature of the darkness user.

"Sorry, did I scare you guys?" he asked.

Natsu laughed out loud all of a sudden. When he was finished, he gave Vanitas a thumbs up. "Nah, you just proved that your Fairy Tail material alright."

"Didn't you already say that Natsu?" asked Gray.

"Aye, he's right" followed up Happy. Natsu just grumbled in response. Vanitas just shook his head and suggested that they continue on their way to Magnolia.

….

In said city, Magnolia, the guild hall of Fairy Tail, a large, impressive looking building had a large level of noise emitted from it. The Noise was made from an extreme brawl that was going on in there; every member was sparring with each other, enjoying the tests of strength they were giving each other.

Behind the guild's bar, was a young woman wearing a red dress, who also had white hair, blue eyes and had her fringe tied up, causing it to point upwards. She was cleaning the cups and cutlery behind the counter, oblivious to the fighting. Near her, sitting in a wheelchair beside the bar was a short, balding old man with white hair surrounding his head and a thick, silver beard. He wore a white shirt, a brown waist shirt and black trousers, sporting a pair of brown slippers on his feet as well. He was enjoying a cup of coffee while he observed the brawling. Normally, he would end it quickly, but he decided to let them have their fun.

"Good to see everything is normal, right master?" asked the woman.

The old man, referred to as "master" replied "You got that right Mirajane."

They continued to view the rest of the brawl for a few more minutes before an eagle soared in threw one of the open guild windows. In its beak held a letter with the emblem of Fairy Tail printed on the back. It landed beside the master, which surprised him a little until he saw the letter. He grabbed the envelope, which the eagle let go of as soon as the master had a secure grip on it, and the eagle flew away. He was curious as to who could be writing to him at this time and so opened it and read the contents. After half a minute, his jaw dropped. Mirajane saw this and asked what was wrong. His response was falling backwards into behind the bar, leaving the letter on the counter. She picked it up and read it herself.

 _Dear Master Makarov of Fairy Tail,_

 _I would like to, first of all, thank you for having accepted our request in killing the ancient monster that has been terrorising our village. For centuries, it had cost us the lives of many good people, leaving nothing but pain and misery in our home. But thanks to you all, our village is saved. We were amazed at the power of your wizards, especially the one who wielded the sword shaped like a key._

 _Overall, we are eternally grateful for your help. We told your members we will be sending the payment in full, it should arrive shortly after this letter. My niece, Chloe, also enclosed a gift for the wizard Vanitas for saving her from a carriage heist as well. Who knows what would become of this world without you._

 _Yours Sincerely,_

 _Mayor Joseph Maxwell._

Mirajane put the parchment back on the counter and saw the envelope. She picked it up and looked into it, seeing a necklace. There was a piece of metal attached to it, it was shaped like a heart, it had a sliver outline and the interior was charcoal black. Her eyes glowed, she thought it was a lovely necklace. Then she remembered the name that this was dedicated to. Mirajane looked down at Makarov.

"Master, who is Vanitas? Is he another mysterious member? Mirajane asked, half joking with the latter part of the statement. However, Makarov was in no mood for humour.

" _How… what is going on?"_ he asked.

…

After numerous more days of travelling on foot, as both Wendy and Natsu would suffer from extreme motion sickness, they finally found a giant city in the distance. Vanitas assumed it was their home town, as their faces lit up like one of Natsu's flame attacks. He couldn't help but smile at their happiness. He continued walking ahead, more curious to see the interior of the city rather than just the exterior. The rest of the group caught up with him and spoke of how awesome they would be. They explained that the quest was known as a century quest, a quest so difficult that it takes around a hundred years to complete it. Thanks to Vanitas, they finished it in just a couple of weeks. Natsu hoped that someone in their guild called "Laxus" would become scared of him.

"You know, if he heard that I was the one that killed it, this guy might think you were just hiding behind someone while they did all the work." Vanitas said while walking and focusing on the path. He only meant it as a joke, but Natsu immediately lost his temper at the accusation. Vanitas turned and saw Natsu racing towards him, so he teleported onto the branch of a tree above him. Natsu looked around him and assumed that he ran off to the city, so blasted his way over there. When he was gone, he jumped back down and landed with a roll.

"That's some temper, huh?" Vanitas turned to the rest of the group. He noticed they all had guilty looks on their faces.

"Uh… did I say something I shouldn't have?" he asked, realising what he said to Natsu may have struck too had a cord with them.

"No, it's just… well, if you hadn't been there, we might not have made it. And here we are, taking credit for your work. We're sorry." Lucy was looking down the whole time. The rest of the group looked guilty also. After a few seconds, Vanitas just burst out laughing, which surprised everyone.

"What are you apologising for? For goodness sake, I know you guys would've won against that thing if I hadn't come up. If anything, I should apologise for stealing your thunder. So don't think about it, if anything, you more than deserved this victory. Also, in case I forget, tell Natsu I'm sorry for driving him up the wall."

Vanitas gave them all a reassuring smile, cheering them up slightly. They continued on their way to the city. As they moved, Vanitas felt a chill down his spine. He turned around to see what was causing it, but saw nothing there. He shook the feeling off and continued walking. He was unaware that the feeling he was feeling was coming from a pair of ember eyes peaking from one of the trees, cloaked in shadow.

…

"Now this is impressive" Vanitas stated. They were outside the Fairy Tail guild hall; Vanitas was still taking in the sight. When he was finished, Lucy asked him if he was ready to go in, to which he answered with a nod. With that, she opened the doors and saw that the guild was currently in the worst condition for first impressions. Everyone was brawling with each other, destroying much of the tables and chairs inside, as well as well as launching each other into the air. She tried to push Vanitas away, but she wasn't able to move him an inch. More a moment she thought that he was carrying cinder blocks in his pockets.

"What's the rush, it looks like the fun it just starting." Vanitas said. He walked into the guild hall, cracking his knuckles.

"I like the sound of that!" said Gray, now wearing nothing on his torso. He quickly followed Vanitas inside, planning on joining the brawl and providing Vanitas with back-up.

Lucy was at a loss for words. She turned to Erza, hoping for some help. Erza simply shrugged her shoulders.

"Why not let them have some fun? It'll be a good way for him to bond with the other members." She said.

Lucy sighed in defeat. She thought that it couldn't get any worse. However, she was proven wrong when she heard Natsu roaring in the distance.

"VANITAS! I CAN'T REMEMBER WHY I'M MAD ANYMORE, BUT I WANNA FIGHT YOU RIGHT NOW, SO COME ON!" Natsu roared.

Vanitas heard him. He was about to ready his Keyblade when he heard a cough behind him. He turned to see who it was. When he saw no one there, he opted to look down and saw an incredibly short old man. He had a friendly expression on his face, but Vanitas could tell that there was something he was hiding.

"Nice to meet you son, the name's Makarov. Fairy Tail's guild master." He said

He smiled at him. "Likewise, the name's Vanitas." Replied the dark warrior.

"Oh, so you're the one who helped Natsu's team. Thanks for helping them out. I heard you took out the beast in no time, I couldn't believe it, no one has ever completed a century quest that quickly before." Makarov was still smiling as he spoke. However, there was a slight glint of concern in his eyes, which Vanitas noticed.

"You're not happy I interfered?" he asked.

"No, not at all… The thing is… you're a Keyblade wielder, aren't you?" asked Makarov asked.

That question made Vanitas' blood run cold. "How do you know that?" he asked, a hint of grim seriousness emitting from his voice.

Makarov raised his hand up. "I already knew about the Keyblade for a long time. You don't take on the role of a guild master for a mage guild and hear about the legendary Keyblade. If you want, I promise not to say anything. But I have to know, isn't it against the rules for the chosen wielders to interfere with what goes on in the different worlds?"

Vanitas raised his brow, impressed that he also knew about the multiple worlds in the universe.

"Normally, but… I saw Lucy and the others in trouble, it didn't feel right to just stand on the side-lines. Hope you don't mind." Vanitas spoke with a casual tone of voice.

Makarov was starting to like this boy. "Not at all. By the way, why'd you come back here with them?" he asked.

"They asked me to join the guild. I said yes." Vanitas simply said.

"That's wonderful!" cam an extremely cheery voice. They both turned to see a woman in a red dress with white hair. Vanitas was taken back by how beautiful she was. He hid it well, however, not wanting to cause offense in anyway.

"Nice to meet you, my name's Mirajane." She said, her voice was full of life, Vanitas noticed.

"Vanitas, and likewise." He replied.

Her eyes lit up for a moment, as if she just realised something. "Can you excuse me for a moment please?" she rushed back to the counter. Both he and Makarov were confused, until she came back with a letter and a necklace.

"The village you guys saved sent a thank you letter. The mayor's nice also put a present in the letter for you especially." She explained. She handed him the necklace. He was at a complete loss for works for a brief moment. He looked at the heart for a moment, unsure of what to make of it.

The heart on the necklace was the exact same shape of Kingdom Hearts, the heart of all worlds and the source of all the world's light. Memories of Xehanort's tales of the Keyblade war resurfaced, how thousands of Keyblade wielders lost their lives in a great war over who would get its power.

He wondered if anyone of them would still exist today, or if there would be anymore Keyblade wielders if they never let the greed consume them.

He widened out the chain of the necklace and undid the chain, before wrapping it around his neck and connecting the chain again. He let the item drop around his neck and asked Mirajane for her opinion.

"Oh my god, it's beautiful, you look a lot more handsome now… I didn't think that was possible."

The last part of Mirajane's statement made Vanitas blush so much that he looked like a cherry tomato. Makarov couldn't help but laugh at him. He was about to ask him if he wanted something to eat or drink when Natsu came flying through the air, his entire body being covered in flames.

"TAKE THIS!" Natsu roared.

He would've been successful if Makarov raised his hand again, only it immediately increased in size. The giant hand grabbed Natsu, trapping him and causing him to extinguish his flames. Makarov then told Natsu to calm down and held a crystal in his other hand. He told Natsu it was a ninja movie. This immediately caught the pyromancer's attention and agreed to calm down. Makarov let Natsu go and gave him the crystal.

"Eh, a ninja movie?" asked a confused Vanitas.

"Here we got crystals that can generate different kinds of magic. We call it lacrima. That kind I got Natsu can film, it's good for recording movies. That one in particular has a recording of a ninja film called "Daggers of the Shadows". Natsu won't be bothering anyone for a couple of hours, he and Happy love ninjas.

To prove his point, Natsu's voice could be heard calling Happy to watch the ninja film with him, which had the cat flying straight toward the room where Natsu was setting it up.

Vanitas couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed, as he wanted to test the Dragonslayer's strength. He decided that he will leave it for another day. As he was about to move, he saw Mirajane holding what looked like a giant stamp.

"When someone joins a guild, they get a tattoo of the emblem as a form of identification. I hope you don't mind." Mirajane said.

Vanitas shook his head and pulled up the short sleeve on his right arm, exposing the side of his shoulder. He gave her a nod, saying to go away. With that, she lightly pressed the stamp on his shoulder, which caused a puff of black smoke to emit from underneath it. When she lifted it, the emblem was now imprinted on his shoulder.

It now confirmed that Vanitas was a member of Fairy Tail. Vanitas admired it for a second. He noticed something unusual. He looked at some of the exposed guild marks on some of the other members. They were all different colours, but it was just one colour per mark. He looked back at his and saw that, while it was black, it had a scarlet outline. Mirajane and Makarov both looked at the mark, surprised at how different it was.

"Well that's odd." Stated Mirajane. She looked back at the stamp. "Maybe there's something wrong with the stamp. Do you want to try again?"

Vanitas shook his head. "No, it's alright. I actually like it." He replied. Makarov agreed, but he was silently pondering why it was different. It usually made the guild mark the colour that represented them best, so he was curious what it was about Vanitas that gave him that particular mark. For now, he put it at the thought of his mind. For now, he held his mug up into the air and yelled at the top of his voice, "TO THE NEWEST MEMBER OF FAIRY TAIL!"

This ended the brawling scene immediately. They quickly focused their attention him. The number of eyes that were now staring at him were causing Vanitas to feel a bit nervous. To mask it, he gave them all a thumbs up and a small grin. As a response, they all gave a celebratory cheer, anyone who had a cup in hand was raising it up high into the air as high as they could. Vanitas couldn't help but further widen his grin into a wide smile.

At long last, he had finally found a place to call home.

….

When night came at last, everyone had fallen asleep. As they rested, a man in a black coat and walked around the guild hall, observing the structure, furniture and so on. His gaze soon came across Makarov, who had fallen asleep on the bar counter after a few too many drinks. The figure strode towards the master, his footsteps not making a single noise. He stopped right in front of him, staring at him for a few more seconds.

" _Everything you fought for… he will destroy…"_

Makarov leapt up from his sleep, hearing the voice. He looked around, thinking that there was an intruder, but there wasn't a person in the hall other than himself. He couldn't sense any form of magical energy in the hall. Thinking it was just a bad dream, he laid down again and went back to sleep, being too tired to bother finding an actual bed.

Unknown to him, the coated figure was hiding behind one of the support pillars. When he was certain Makarov was asleep again, he exited the guild, disappearing into a mass of dark energy as he passed through the doors.


	3. The First Job

_The light half of Vanitas was sent flying high into the air, screaming in pain. As he landed on the rough, desert terrain, all the cuts, bruises and wounds that were inflicted were more visible. He tried to get up, but the pain was too much for him. As he attempted to persevere, a figure was walking towards his direction. He wore a black body suit, the material seemingly similar to internal muscle. Most of it was black, except for his forearms and his lower legs; the former being a scarlet shade while the latter was a dull shade of red. Some of the lines on the torso of his suit were scarlet red, the overall shape they were making was similar to the unversed symbol. He also wore a dark blue combat skirt around his waist, which was slightly torn and worn. The most defining feature however was a black helmet that completely concealed his face, which had a silver material surrounding his jaw and the black of his head._

" _That really all you got?" asked the masked boy. He sounded quite disappointed._

" _Man, you are worthless. I'd be going against the master's orders but so what? As far as I'm concerned, your job here is done." The masked boy was building up a mass of energy on his weapon; a sword made of gears shaped like a key. He pointed it upward towards the sky. When he was sure he had enough, he pointed the Keyblade towards the beaten opponent and sent the ball of energy flying towards him. Then there was a bright flash of light._

…

Vanitas jumped up from his bed, sweat dripping from his brow. He was looking left and right, still in a slight state of panic from the dream he had. When he was sure he was back in reality, he sighed with relief. He was about to lay down when he found he was holding his Keyblade in his hand. Surprised at first, he came to the conclusion that he must have summoned it in his sleep; he wanted to try and stop what was in his dream, but it was impossible. He had caused so much pain, none of it fixable. This very Keyblade was nothing more than a reminder of what he had done. He dematerialised it and got out of his bed.

As he walked out of his room, he saw Natsu and Happy sleeping soundly and happily, probably dreaming about food as he could hear them mumbling the names of different restaurants he saw around the town. At the moment, Vanitas doesn't have very much in terms of funds, so he wasn't able to afford a place to rest. When Natsu found out about this, he went to Vanitas and asked him if he would like to stay with them. At first, Vanitas was reluctant, but Natsu's, and later Happy's, persistence won out in the end. They got a fold out bed for him and set it up for him in a small room where they usually kept items they collected from different missions, deciding to leave the items in their own room. Vanitas still wasn't comfortable with taking up their space, but he wasn't going to upset Natsu over it either.

He exited the house and walked for a little bit around the forest. He shook his head and kept thinking of that boy. Vanitas had called him weak and pathetic multiple times; he would often laugh about how it was ironic that he was once part of him. In the end, he had proven himself stronger.

The warrior of light, Ventus.

Vanitas took in another deep breath and exhaled. Realising he wasn't going to get anymore sleep any time soon, he opted for going to the guild hall. Being financially embarrassed, he wanted to see if there were any jobs available with big rewards. Mirajane explained that Fairy Tail would often take jobs that would involve a lot of crime fighting and mystery solving. She also told them that the jobs can be accepted at any time of day, even though no one would be interested in losing sleep over a job. Vanitas, however, didn't mind. He found that he would heal and recover from fatigue incredibly quickly. It was one of the many reasons he was such a formidable fighter.

It took a while, as he decided to jog over rather than teleport, it was a good way to get exercise and work on further increasing his stamina. When he reached the guild hall, he went inside and saw that it was surprisingly clean. He didn't think the mess left behind from the brawl could be cleaned up this quickly, but then again he was wrong before about many things. He strolled over to the request board and looked at the different number of jobs available. There was an interesting variety of jobs available, from taking down thieves to capturing monsters. There were also some public service jobs available, such as working in restaurants, theatres, schools, etc. There weren't many requests that appealed to him, but he knew he needed to choose something. He was about to turn away from the board and get something from behind the bar (something he would pay for when he gets the money) when something caught his eye. He picked a flyer from the bottom of the board. He read it carefully for a moment before placing it in one of the back pockets of his jeans. He turned and teleported out of the hall.

….

When day time came, Fairy Tail was in full swing when it came to activity. Every member of the guild was present, all of them engaged in conversation or some form of competition. Natsu and Gray were arguing over who could eat the most salsa while Erza was giving out to some of the members for acting out of line. Lucy, meanwhile, was discussing ideas for a new book with a girl who had wild, blue hair.

"I'm not writing a sci-fi, Levy." Stated Lucy to the other girl.

"Why not, it'll be cool, and people would _love_ to see something new and original from the talented Lucy Heartfilia." Replied the girl, apparently called Levy. She was also a real bookworm and had been extremely supportive of Lucy's dream to become a professional author.

While the girls were debating, Mirajane was behind the bar again, preparing some meals for the day. She enjoyed cooking very much, being able to experiment and create new and tasty dishes. Normally, she would have Natsu as the taste tester, as his increased senses could detect anything that would cause any unpleasantness in the dish. Natsu was always happy to help, as it would involve tasting great food; ever since he started taste-testing her recipes, he never found anything wrong with her cooking.

She was headed back into the back kitchen to get some flour when she discovered someone hiding under the counter. She looked underneath and found Makarov semi-conscious with an unusually happy expression on his face.

"Master, what are you doing under there, aren't you supposed to be in your chair?" she asked with a stern expression on her face.

Makarov giggled slightly before answering. "I, uh, got a craving for some wine last night, so I crawled onto the counter and drank a whole bottle than was left there. It kind of lost its taste after a while, though."

Mirajane sighed with annoyance at the master's behaviour. She waved at a tall, muscular man with spiky, white hair and a scar under his right eye. He jogged over when he noticed her waving.

"Yo, sis, what's up?" the man asked.

"Elfman, can you help the master back into chair please?" Mirajane asked.

"No problem." Elfman replied. He lifted Makarov up onto his shoulders and made his way to the backroom. He stopped for a moment and turned back to Mirajane. "Hey, you didn't see Lisanna today, did you?"

"No, I guess she's just taking the day off or something." She answered. He smiled and nodded in agreement before continuing towards the backroom. Mirajane got back to cleaning. When Erza was finished scolding some of the other members, she went over to Gray and Natsu, both immediately stopping and acting friendly so as to avoid her sharp words. She smiled at how they were not fighting anymore. The warrior mage then turned to the request board. She decided to do some more jobs so as to earn more money than usual. She and Mirajane had come up with an idea of throwing Vanitas a proper welcome party, as they suspected the usual Fairy Tail atmosphere may not have been enough for the new recruit. Erza agreed to supply the funds while Mirajane would make the arrangements. She was looking for the most well rewarded job available when she noticed a thumb tack stuck on the board with a shred of paper stuck to it.

"Mirajane." Yelled Erza, quickly catching the cheerful barmaid's attention. "Did someone pick up a job earlier?"

"I don't think so, you were the only person I saw go to the board today." replied Mirajane. "Why do you ask?"

"There's a thumbnail with a piece of paper stuck to it, I'm wondering if someone was already taking the best paid job for the day. Natsu, Gray, did either of you take it?"

The two wizards in question had fear written on their faces as they shook their heads, implying that they took no jobs. Erza looked back at the board for a moment before an idea came to her.

"Has anyone seen Vanitas this morning?" she asked.

….

"So that's the story." said an elderly man with a woman around the same age standing at his side.

Vanitas stood in front of them, arms folded and was wearing a stern and slightly cold look on his face, but a strong level of understanding in his eyes all the same.

"So, let me get this straight. You're saying that a man in a cloak has kidnapped your daughter and will kill her if you don't pay this ransom he's demanding." Vanitas breathed out through his nose silently as he saw them nod in despair. He wasn't very happy with how miserable they seemed.

"What can you tell me about him?" he asked. The elderly man took in a deep breath before he started explaining.

"The man is a wizard, like you. He is extremely dangerous, he has the ability to go through walls like a ghost and create chains made of some form of energy. He can create as many of them as he wanted, there hasn't been anyone who could break them. There have been wizards before you who have tried to fight him and break the chains, but they couldn't do it. We know that we may be asking too much, but… please. Please help us, we will pay anything."

Vanitas stood still for a moment before slowly nodding. "Deal."

….

A young woman was sitting on top of a roof of an old house in a rural village, some distance away from the Magnolia. She had white hair that was tied at the ends into two pig tails, blue eyes and was wearing a pink tank top, blue shorts and sandals. The girl was sitting patiently on the roof, waiting for her target to appear. Last night, as she was having a night-time walk around her hometown, that being Magnolia, she noticed a figure teleporting from roof to roof. She thought about reporting what she saw to the guild, but she didn't want to risk losing sight of the figure. She followed him relentlessly, even when he wasn't teleporting, his running speed was impressive, it was like he wasn't getting tired at all. I was difficult, but he finally stopped when he reached the village they were in now. He knocked at the door of one house and an elderly couple allowed him in. There didn't seem to be a problem. Since then, she was waiting for him to appear again.

It was boring.

"How long is going to stay in there. Are they making him cookies or something?" she asked herself. As if it was reacting to her question, her stomach grumbled. It was then that she remembered that she has had nothing to eat.

"Oh, come on." she was beginning to get annoyed. She looked back at the house and became alert when she saw the figure walk out of the house. She squinted her eyes in hope of getting a better view of her target. She was able to make out back, spiky hair and a black and red shirt.

"Who is he, I wonder." She said to herself.

As soon as she said that, he vanished again. She was about to get up when she felt something pressing against the back of her neck. It felt like a gear with sharp edges.

"If you're going to talk to yourself, make sure it's not when you're following a guy with sharp hearing." He said.

The girl began to panic slightly. He told her to stand up. No one did anything for a moment, but then the gear-like object was removed from the back of her neck. She turned and got a better view of the figure. His hair and shit with the same; he also wore navy jeans and black shoes. What startled her most, however, were his yellow eyes. They stared at her coldly for a moment before he relaxed and gave her an unexpected smile.

"I'm guessing that you're Lisanna. Sorry about that, I wasn't sure who you were for a moment." He said. He held out his hand to her.

"The name's Vanitas, the newest member of Fairy Tail."

"What, no way, show me your emblem!" she said.

Vanitas lifted up his sleeve and showed her the emblem. She felt the symbol, making sure that it wasn't something that wasn't that was just drawn on to him. It took a few seconds, but she confirmed that it was real.

"Alright then. Nice to meet you." She took his hand and shook it.

"Sooooo… What are you doing here exactly? I saw you teleporting around the city and thought you were up to no good. Were you purposely trying to get me to fight you?"

"I wouldn't push it." Vanitas said. "Now isn't really the time to be playing games anyway. Did you see the request for here?"

Lisanna shook her head.

"A kidnapping, some wizard in a cloak kidnapped the daughter of the couple I was just talking to."

"What can he do?" Lisanna asked.

"Oh, not much, only being able to phase through walls like a ghost and conjuring indestructible, magical chains." Vanitas said casually.

"You don't seem that worried." Lisanna noted.

"This guy can't hold a candle to me. Now, let's get a move on?" asked Vanitas.

Lisanna was surprised at this question. "Excuse me?"

"It's a Fairy Tail mission, surely you wouldn't want to back out now that you're here, would you?"

Lisanna was at a loss for words. Mirajane had already told her that they were going to set up a surprise party for a new recruit who completed an S-class mission with ease. She was asked to get some supplies, but after she saw Vanitas, she lost time on the decorating. She couldn't say anything now because it would spoil the surprise.

"Okay, I'm in." she answered.

"Perfect, now let's move." Vanitas grabbed onto her hand and teleported.

…

In a dark cave, where bats hung upside down, sleeping peacefully in the silence, there was a man in a dark cloak, his face being completely concealed. He was wearing a pair of hiking boots, which were visible from the end of the cloak that only went as far as half-way down his lower legs. He stood still for several moments before moving, still not making a sound as he moved. He was walking towards a wall, which he would've certainly bumped into. However, instead he went through it like it was an illusion. The wall still kept its shape though. When he made his way through the wall completely, he briefly turned back towards it and laid a hand on it, ensuring it was still solid and unchanged.

He made a brief grin before continuing on his way. He was now in a cubic, metallic room. There were a number cages in there, many of which were quite small, caging a number of rabid dogs. He ignored the dogs and went straight for a large cell, which contained an unconscious woman, presumable in her mid-twenties. He banged the side of the cage, which caused her to stir. She looked up at him with a hateful expression on her face.

"We are in for a treat today, my dear. It seems you have some heroes on their way." said the cloaked figure. The girl didn't respond.

"What's wrong? No happy faces?"

The girl still didn't respond.

"Well, in that case, I suppose you won't mind if I capture them as well. It must be quite lonely in here. Don't worry, you will have some more playmates soon." He turned towards one of the walls and walked through it.

When the girl was sure he was gone, she lifted her head and looked directly at one of the bars of her cage. It soon started to vibrate, causing the rest of the cage to follow suit. This continued for half a minute, but then the vibration ceased. The girl jerked with pain and was breathing heavily. She didn't have much energy left in her system.

" _Please… please don't come here._ "

….

"How do you not throw up from that?"

Vanitas was trying to hold in the contents of his stomach. After a few teleportation's towards the destination, Lisanna became impatient and opted for another choice of travel. It was here that she revealed her own form of magic. It turns out she is able to turn her body into different animal forms. It can vary, from just her limbs to her entire body. In this instance, she used her magic to turn into a giant bird and flew at top speed towards their destination, with Vanitas riding on her back. It was an incredibly useful way to get there, but it left Vanitas with a strong vertigo from the air-borne velocity. He was okay with top speed on the ground, but moving like a rocket in the air was more difficult if it included long distances.

"Vanitas, you wanted to get here, so we got here." Lisanna stated.

Vanitas sighed with defeat on this occasion. He couldn't help but chuckle at how he was easily brought down onto his knees. When he had recovered, he pulled out numerous notes he had taken down from his meeting with the elderly couple. They said that there were reports of a cave, where a man matching of the description of the kidnapper was said to be going in and out of, being in this area. He remembered that the cave had an unusual emblem carved on the side, small enough so that travellers wouldn't be able to see it at a distance.

"So, you see the cave anywhere?" Lisanna asked.

"Not yet, the cave should have a pentagram star with an elongated top on the star. Keep an eye out, I'm going to scout the area. Can you do me a favour, by the way?

Lisanna was surprised. He didn't seem like the kind of person who would ask for many favours. "Uh, sure, what do you need?"

Vanitas placed his hands in his pocket and pulled out a small, crimson crystal and handed it to her.

"If we find the girl dead or near it, you're going to have to insert it crystal into her body to revive her, whether it's in her mouth or cutting a hole in her body to do it, I don't care, just get it in there. The reason I'm asking you this is because if what I hear about this guy is true, which I doubt, I'll be the one to fend him off while you get the girl out."

"What, you said that it should be easy!" said Lisanna.

"And I stand by that, but it's good to cover my bases. Now let's get back to-" Vanitas stopped cold. He looked to his left, squinting his eyes at a large of rocks. He summoned his Keyblade and fired the Shadow energy blast he used to stop the carriage thieves the other day. When it hit the rocks, it created a massive explosion, launching the rocks into the air. When the dust brought about from the explosion soon cleared, revealing, not very surprising, a small cave.

Vanitas squinted his eyes and, within half a second, sped towards the cave. Lisanna was taken back by his sudden change of behaviour; she ran towards the direction he was headed for. He was already out of her sight, making his way into the cave. By the time she made it there, she was out of breath. She looked up at the entrance, observing it at all angles until her eyes came across something interesting.

A pentagram with the elongated tip pointing up.

With that, she made her way into the cave. It was surprisingly small, so much so that she saw the dark warrior standing at the end of the cave, a large wall of rock, as soon as she entered.

"What is wrong with you? You're acting like Natsu. And I say that knowing full well that with everyone else, that would be a problem." Lisanna was beginning to lose her patience, something that wouldn't normally happen with anyone.

"You're here, aren't you?" Vanitas said in a low growl.

"What?" Lisanna asked, not hearing him properly.

Vanitas raised his Keyblade up towards the wall, a bright beam firing towards it. When the beam hit the wall, it began to be engulfed in a similar light.

"Xehanort…" Vanitas whispered to himself. When the light faded, the wall was gone. In their sight was an old prison with multiple cages. They went into the cage and saw a number of prisoners, Lisanna was appalled at this sight, while Vanitas focused on two targets, the girl and his old master. He scanned the room and saw a girl around his age trapped in a large cage.

"Hey… hey, can you hear me?" he asked. The girl nodded.

"You're Emily, aren't you? Emily Kershaw?" The girl nodded again.

Lisanna recognised the last name. The Kershaw family were a well-known members of a merchant Guild that went out of business after one of their members had been discovered to have been embezzling a massive amount of money from it. The Kershaw took the liberty of compensating everyone who lost their jobs and, later, helped the authorities find the culprit. Since then, no one has heard anything from them.

"You… you need to… leave." said Emily.

"Not without you woman, now let's get you out." Vanitas said. He took a couple of steps back and aimed his Keyblade at the lock on the cage door. The same beam of light fired from the weapon and hit the lock, instantly opening it.

"Happy? Now let's-" Vanitas suddenly heard Lisanna scream. He turned and found her being restrained by black, glowing chains.

"Lisanna!" Vanitas ran to her and tried to pull the chain off. However, when he touched it, he felt his hands burn. He pulled them away, shaking his hands.

"Man that hurt. How come you're not burning?" he asked Lisanna.

"The chain only burns those who try to remove it." Came a snake-like voice behind Vanitas. He turned and saw a man in a brown, tattered cloak. Vanitas was silent for a moment, before letting out a sigh of disappointment.

"you're not him."

The cloaked figure made a grunt of annoyance. "You dare act that way in front of me!?" he conjured another one of his chains. It moved in the air around him like a snake. With a click of his fingers, the chain launched itself at Vanitas. The dark warrior didn't move an inch as the Chain suddenly went through him like a bullet. Lisanna gasped in horror, struggling even harder to escape from her chains. She quickly looked back towards back at Vanitas. She stopped when she saw that where the chain had penetrated him didn't seem to have caused a wound, it was as if it went through him like a ghost.

"Are you okay?" She asked loudly.

Vanitas then appeared behind the cloaked wizard, while he was also standing in the same position he was a second ago.

"I'd be more worried about him, lizzy." said the second Vanitas. He used his empty hand to punch the opponent in the back of the head. He dropped to his knees, disorientated from the sudden knock to his head. He turned towards Vanitas, who kicked the wizard in the chin, sending him flying towards the ceiling, which he crashed into. He stuck to it for a few seconds before he fell from it and landed on the ground. The chains binding Lisanna vanished while Vanitas' face was covered with disdain.

"Is that it? Here I thought that darkness I sensed was from someone more… well, more." He turned to the cage and went inside, picking up Emily bridal style.

"Right, let's get you home. You okay Lisanna, sorry for acting rude earlier, I thought I sensed… an old friend." Vanitas said.

"Aww, don't worry about it. Besides, you're not the most annoying person in the world." Lisanna laughed for a moment, but her expression quickly faded when she saw the cloaked wizard get back up.

She turned her hands into tiger paws that had very sharp claws. She rushed past Vanitas, who was quite surprised at her speed, and aimed her claws at the wizards face, only to be stopped mid-air when a chain struck her in the side of the face, sending her flying. Vanitas placed Emily on the ground summoned his Keyblade. He fired a large ice crystal at the wizard, who created a shield made of the chains that easily blacked the ice. Vanitas then rushed towards his opponent by swinging his Keyblade downward, aiming to strike him in the head again. The wizard quickly dodged the attack, so Vanitas adjusted his grip and lashed the Keyblade upwards, causing him to do a backflip. As the Keyblade slashed the air, a shockwave made up of dark energy was formed, homing towards the enemy at top speed. The wizard didn't see the shockwave and part of it struck his left arm, leaving a deep wound from the attack. He grasped it out of reaction to the pain, but still faced Vanitas. Vanitas gave him a mocking smirk before saying "Gotta say, you're a little tougher than you let on the first time. You got anything else in store or is that it?"

The wizard shook his head and revealed a face the had small, third-degree burns on different parts of his face, grey eyes with bags under them and short, dirty blond hair. Vanitas suddenly felt a strong level of darkness radiate from him. It wasn't nearly as strong as Xehanort's… but it certainly had a sense of familiarity about it.

Before Vanitas could make another move, his head was suddenly filled with agonising pain. He dropped his Keyblade and fell to the floor, grasping his head and rolled onto one side. He was grunted from the pain, doing his best to keep the screams at bay. Lisanna had woken up shortly before Vanitas fell to the floor; she saw him rolling and grunting with pain and crawled to his side.

"VANITAS!" she yelled. She placed her hands on his shoulders, confused about what is happening.

"It worked… IT FINALLY WORKED!" yelled the cloaked wizard.

Lisanna turned to him and saw the dark aura around him become larger and darker; as it did, Vanitas felt his pain increase.

"The dark magic I have been perfecting for years has finally come to be. The aura that would allow black magic users to be attacked and left in agonising pain, the amount depending on how strong their magic is, of course." He gave a manic grin to Vanitas. "Ironically, I was originally planning on using this spell on Zeref."

"You would've lost all the same." Lisanna stated assertively. Zeref was the world's most powerful dark wizard; literally anything that went near him would die if they went near him, or he could simply drain a person of their life if they wanted to. What was worse, he was immortal and unimaginably difficult to defeat. It was only with the help of Natsu, who had gained more than enough power to take him on, as well as using the same magic that made him what he was, were they able to defeat him.

"I highly doubt it. Well, enough of this chit-chat, it's time to throw you into that cage now." He lifted his hands into the air and more than a dozen chains appeared. With a click of his fingers, they all rocketed towards her. Lisanna didn't have time to register what had happened when they had once again bound her. Lisanna tried her best to break free, but the chains were too strong. What was worse, she could feel her magical energy slowly fading away; it wasn't at a fast rate, but it still wasn't a good time to be losing power now. As she struggled, the dark aura around the cloaked wizard was growing even stronger. This didn't go unnoticed by Lisanna, who immediately caught on to what is going on.

"That's it! You're fuelling your power with the magic of other wizards, aren't you?" he asked demandingly.

The cloaked wizard chuckled slightly before giving his answer. "Correct, it was also why I kidnapped those girls; all of them had boundless magical potential, so I took the liberty of putting it to good use."

"Wh… What other… girls?" Vanitas asked, barely managing to speak through the pain.

"Oh, so he speaks. For years, I had been collecting the magical energy of multiple female mages I had kidnapped. Not only does it supply me with a source of magical power, but encourages a fool-hearty wizard or two like yourselves to come to me and provide me with more power. What's more, to have Fairy Tail mages in the palm of my hands, ready to crush, my name will be feared by many; admired by those who will wish for me to train them, and hated by those who will try to stop me… only to become my personal supply of extra magic as well."

"Wait." Lisanna asked, a dreaded thought coming to her head. "The victims… the girls you kidnapped… where are they now?"

The cloaked wizard gave another manic grin. "By the time they were all running on empty, I thanked them for their assistance and… disposed of them. The same as I shall do to you, and him." He pointed to Vanitas, who was struggling to stay conscious at this point.

With that, Lisanna snapped. Her body quickly became enveloped in a bright, yellow light. When it faded, she was now a hybrid of human and a white tiger, with her now wearing what could only be described as some kind of bathing suit with a white tiger pattern on it, cat ears on the top of her head, whiskers and the paws of a large tiger replacing her hands and feet. She pushed herself as far as she could go, resulting in her managing to, not only break, but shatter the chains. Pausing to gaze at the cloaked wizard's astonished face, she rapidly made her way towards him, claws at the ready. The cloaked figure stepped to the side, dodging a swipe aimed at his head, and tried to counter with a side kick aimed at her head. She saw this and caught the foot with her hand and threw him at a nearby wall. The opponent hit the wall hard, but pulled himself out of it just as Lisanna launched herself at him with her foot aiming for his head, further embedding him into the wall. Lisanna took a step back, readying another strong punch. However, without warning, she felt all of her power go in an instant. She fell to the ground and reverted to her original form. The cloaked figure laughed out loud at her.

"It seems tht you used too much power when you tried to defeat me. A pitiful mistake." He looked at his right hand and allowed some of the aura to concentrate on his palm. The aura increased in length, around a metre and a half, and it faded to reveal a black longsword. He held the blade over his head and focused his attention on the young wizard.

"And here I thought that you could put up more of a fight." The blade gleamed in the light. Vanitas, who was just about to lose consciousness entirely, saw the glint and heard three overused but terrifying words.

"Any last words?" he asked. Lisanna responded by lifting her head up and spitting directly onto his face. This enraged the enemy wizard and he brought down the sword. Lisanna shut her eyes quickly, expecting the end.

She waited for a few seconds, but nothing happened.

"You better… watch your mouth." Came a familiar, but darker voice.

Lisanna opened her eyes and saw Vanitas, only he was covered in a transparent, black and red energy. He had his Keyblade out once more, blocking it as easily as if it were a child fighting him with a stick.

The dark warrior simply gazed into the eyes of the cloaked figure. While this was happening, his eyes began to change from yellow to a strong, scarlet shade, and the aura suddenly changed to a black and purple shade. His [power was increasing every quarter of a second, his rage being the primary source of his power.

"HOW!?" exclaimed the enemy wizard. "HOW CAN YOU BE RESISTING THE POWER OF MY AURA!? IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" he tried to push back Vanitas' weapon, but he wouldn't move an inch.

"You're losing control of the darkness. The more you use it, the more reckless you become with it. When that happens, you lose control, and it swallows you whole. You never knew the first thing about how to use darkness." Vanitas stated calmly and coldly. A sudden burst of energy sent the cloaked back towards the wall, this time causing him to break through. When he landed, he saw Vanitas slowly make his way toward him, dragging the tip of his Keyblade along the ground. The cloaked figure panicked and tried to summon the aura again, but it didn't respond. He kept trying, starting to go into a frenzy from the fear, but to no avail. When Vanitas was right in front of him, he aimed the tip of his weapon at his throat.

"If I could, I would hit you with every attack I knew until you were a pile of ash." He said. A second later, the Keyblade vanished. "But I'm not that kind of person anymore. I won't let Fairy Tail down by sinking to your level." He turned around and went to check on Lisanna. The cloaked wizard decided to take the opportunity to strike from behind, and found a large rock he could hit him with. He reached out for it, but he suddenly felt his body freeze. The dark aura began to build up around him again, only it was beginning to cover his form entirely. He let out a piercing scream, which Vanitas turned to when he heard it, and saw the very darkness the cloaked wizard try to control consume him entirely. He thought about trying to save him when he felt two hands grab onto a shoulder each. He turned to see Lisanna and Emily trying to hold him back, looking down and shaking their heads. This surprised him, but by the time he looked back at the villain, it was too late. The screaming was gone, the darkness began to fade. When it was gone, so was he.

Vanitas sighed. "Another soul has been lost to the dark."

….

Later that day, Vanitas and Lisanna went back to the Kershaw household with Emily, who burst into tears when she saw her parents standing outside the front door. She ran up to them and hugged them both, causing them all to cry. The two Fairy Tail members stood silently, observing the scene. Vanitas was smiling at the fact that he had managed to help someone at last, but Lisanna had a pained expression written on her face. The elderly couple went up to them and thanked them, offering them a reward of 3 million jewel. Vanitas felt his breath leave his body for a moment. Unsure of what to do, he asked if they were sure about giving them that much. The couple told them it was the least they could do. He turned to Lisanna, whose expression hadn't changed, and then turned back and decided not to accept the reward.

"What, but why." Asked the husband in confusion.

"You said that you will give anything after I rescued her, we never specified money. Instead, I'd like to ask you guys a favour, if it's okay."

The elderly couple looked at each other in bewilderment, but turned back and nodded in agreement.

"The wizard who took your daughter also kidnapped many more victims. He told us that he killed them, but I could tell that he was lying. Those girls were mages, so they could still be useful for whatever is really going on. I need you to keep an eye out for anything else that may happen, as well as help to support the training of any mages here so that they can defend themselves and others. I know they say money can't buy happiness, but it help provide safety for your family and others."

The couple listened carefully. When he had finished, they agreed without hesitation.

"Great. Well, until we meet again."

…

Vanitas was once again recovering from a strong vertigo after Lisanna flew them back to the outskirts of Magnolia, unable to accept that it was still causing him grief.

"Need a minute?" Lisanna asked.

Vanitas shook his head and pointed towards the city. As he started making his way, Lisanna spoke from behind him.

"Are you sure those girls are safe?"

Vanitas turned back, starting to recover. "I couldn't be surer. Sorry for asking a stupid question, but is that why you were in a bad mood back at the Kershaw house?"

She nodded.

Vanitas walked over to her and placed his left hand on the side of her face, surprising her.

"First of all, we're going to save them, bring them home, and put big stupid grins on the families of those who were affected by this. Secondly, I need you to stay positive. The more you dwell on the dark side of things, the more it can cause you major harm. Not physically, but in here." He pointed towards his chest with his other hand. He lowered his left hand and allowed Lisanna to place her hand over her chest.

"Here?" she asked.

Vanitas nodded. "If you let the dark thoughts cloud your mind, you may lose yourself to the darkness. If you fall, you could end up hurting those close to you." This caused a great deal of concern for Lisanna.

"Your heart. You may not realise it, but it's the most powerful weapon you have. Your friends become a part of your heart, just as they become a part of yours." He said, remembering Ventus' words with clear precision.

"What do you mean?" she asked, more confused then ever.

"I'm saying that even if you fall, which you won't if you promise to try and think positive, your friends will be there to help you. Your problems are their problems, and they will help to keep your light strong."

Lisanna looked at him for a moment before responding. "So… I just have to remember… I'm not alone in this."

"Exactly. Your friends are you're power, and you're theirs. No matter the odds, you will always find a light at the end of the tunnel."

He turned back to the city, putting both his hands behind his head as he stretched.

"Well, let's head back." He said, deciding to walk rather than teleport this time. Lisanna looked back at him, feeling a great weight lifting from her shoulders. She lowered her hand and remembered to dark times she had faced with her friends, and how they managed to make it through together.

" _I guess I forgot… I'm never alone in stuff like this."_ Thought Lisanna. With that, she followed Vanitas back to the city, surprised at how fast he was moving despite him only walking.

…

"Aw, how long are we going wait here in the dark?" asked Natsu out loud, followed by a loud thumping noise.

"Ouch!" said Natsu.

"Be quiet, we spent a lot of time preparing this, so don't you dare ruin it." Threatened Erza. While he couldn't see it, he could feel Erza's deadly glare digging into his soul.

"Wait, guys, I hear someone coming." Said levy, who was hiding under one of the tables.

With that, everyone was silent. They waited for a few more moments when they heard the door open and saw someone walk through. Erza counted to three silently, and at three, everyone jumped up into the air, lighting up a number of torches hanging on the wall.

"SURPRISE!" they all yelled. They immediately became crestfallen when they saw that it was Lisanna who walked in through the door.

"Uh, guys, Vanitas asked me to tell you that he knew about the party and say that he was going to be a bit late." She said. Everyone, especially Erza, couldn't believe it.

"But he also said to enjoy the party all the same. His exact words were "What's the point of setting up a party if all you're going to do is sit around waiting for someone?", so, let's party I guess."

Everyone was silent for a moment, before erupting into screams of excitement. Erza was till saddened from the spoilt surprise, but was cheered up when Mirajane offered her the first slice of cake.

Lisanna sat up at the bar and pondered more on what Vanitas said. She would keep that promise, she would never let herself fall into the darkness. Soon after, she couldn't help but think about how strong and determined he was, and how he decided refuse the cash reward, which rarely anyone would do.

Mirajane saw Lisanna sitting by herself, her head in her hands and a smile on her face. She walked over to her.

"Hey little sis, you thinking about something?" Mirajane asked Lisanna.

Lisanna nodded. "I met the new recruit today. I have to say, things might get a little interesting with him around." She said with a smile.

Suddenly, Elfman appeared behind her with a face full of rage. "If he thinks he's man enough to date my sister, he's gotta go through ME!" he exclaimed.

This caused Lisanna to blush uncontrollably. Mirajane saw this and giggled.

" _Maybe I should've gone with Vanitas._ " She thought to herself.

….

Vanitas had returned to Natsu and Happy's house. He wanted to get some more rest after the mission they were on, he used up more power than he let on. As he laid on his bed, he remembered the dark aura around the evil wizard and how it consumed him. Vanitas lifted his hand up into the air and summoned his Keyblade.

" _After all I did, all I've seen, I have to wonder… Am I really fit to wield the Keyblade?"_

He dematerialised it and allowed himself to fall asleep.

…

Vanitas opened his eyes. He looked around and saw that everywhere he looked, there was nothing but black. This was quite shocking for him, thinking he was back in that empty realm.

" _Don't be afraid._ " Came a voice.

Vanitas' panic vanished. After hearing those words, he decided to look down at his feet. He saw that he was standing on a large platform; it had a picture of him, having fallen asleep and with his Keyblade in hand, as well as a picture of a desert and the unversed symbol circling around the platform

With that, Vanitas realised he was in the "Dive into the Heart".


	4. Surprise changes

**[Author's note: Hello everyone. I just wish to say that i hope that anyone who is reading this is enjoying it so far. I hope that i'll be able to keep writing for a while. Also, if it's alright, i wouldn't mind a little feedback, just to see what you might think of the story. Bad? Good? I don't mind, i'd just like to know, thanks.]**

The city of Magnolia would've broken the record for the loudest city in all of Fiore. Right now, the "surprise party" that was set up for Vanitas was in full swing, with every member in the Fairy Tail guild going overboard in multiple ways. Many of the adults were having drinking contest, many of which ended with the women beating the men. The younger members were playing a game of go fish, with Wendy doing surprisingly well. Meanwhile, Natsu and Gray were going all out in a sparring match, using every ability and trick they knew to try to defeat and humiliate each other. Normally, Erza would be stepping in to scare them into stopping, but she was busy discussing a few things with Mirajane.

Meanwhile, Lucy and Levy were having another general conversation.

"This is one heck of a party, huh? I think the city guard is going to have us all arrested in the morning." Levy said.

""I hope not, if the land lady sees that I was arrested, she'd either kick me out raise my rent. The first option doesn't seem that bad now." Lucy replied.

"What!? Why?" asked Levy.

"The amount of times everyone broke in made me paranoid of someone just… I don't know… blowing the place up." Lucy answered.

"Sounds like Natsu. Hey, did you ever tell Natsu how you feel?" Levy asked with a small grin.

"WHA… What do you mean!? I don't have - uh- please don't talk about that." Lucy said, suddenly nervous. She decided to change the subject. "So Levy, how're the babies doing?"

"They're looking good, the doctor told me I'm twelve weeks now. Oh, the wait is killing me, this is going to be so exciting!" Levy had no trouble hiding her enthusiasm of becoming a mother. At first, she was worried, but now she couldn't be happier at the prospect.

"Glad to see you're happy about it. How's Gajeel handling it?"

Levy couldn't supress her laughter. When she was finished, she told her how her Gajeel, one of the Fairy Tail Dragonslayers and her boyfriend, had been taking so many jobs to make sure they would have enough money for the kids. She couldn't believe it when she saw him preforming in a children's play, dressed as a bunny rabbit. Lucy couldn't help but laughing so loud that she fell to the floor, rolling from side to side. Levy stuck to her chair, but she still had a strong level of laughter in her system.

Natsu and Gray paused for a moment when they heard the girls laughing. They were curious as to what they were laughing at for a moment, but then they decided to back to the brawl. The night was certainly going well; all that was left was for the guest of honour to arrive. Lisanna was sitting up at the bar, drinking a glass of lemonade, lost in her thoughts.

" _I wonder what's keeping Vanitas?_ " she wondered.

…..

Vanitas looked back at the platform. It had been a while since he was back here. His last visit involved him fighting Ventus for full control over both their hearts so that he could gain full control of the ultimate Keyblade, the "X" blade. Since it was an incomplete version, he didn't have full access to the power it had, and lost to him in the end. Part of him was also focused on fighting a seemingly complete version of the weapon against two Keyblade wielders in the outside world, who he also lost to. It was after that he was trapped in that empty realm.

How he was able to get back here, however, he wasn't sure.

"Alright, I'll bite. What am I doing here?" asked Vanitas, looking up at the pure black sky as he spoke.

" _You have grown incredibly strong, being able to defeat the invulnerable in seconds if you wanted to. However, even you must have noticed that your strength is not entirely your own. After he destroyed your spirit, he implanted a foreign power into you being. If you wish to accomplish your goals, you must increase and rely your own power."_

Vanitas was beyond bewildered and confused at what the voice meant. However, before he could ask, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned and saw the same black coat that he saw Xehanort wear from time to time, the same thing he expected to see during the job today. Vanitas felt rage bubble within him. He stretched out his hand and tried to summon his Keyblade.

Much to his shock, it didn't respond.

He kept trying, but the weapon wouldn't appear to help him fight. He looked back at the cloaked figure and opted for a hand-to-hand fighting stance. Sure of victory, he charged in, leaping into the air, aiming his foot for the opponent's stomach. However, the being in the black coat caught the foot. He used his other hand to grab on to his leg and spun him around. He threw Vanitas to the farthest part of the edge of the platform. Vanitas landed a couple of metres from it, still sliding and would've fallen off had he not dug his feet and fingers into the platform as hard as he could, slowing him down. Vanitas' head was over the edge, luckily not any further. He pulled back his legs and flipped back onto his feet, ready to fight again. The figure, however, had different plans. He raised his right hand and clicked his fingers. The response was a dark aura surrounding Vanitas. It soon began to envelope him, just as the darkness of the cloaked wizard had done. Vanitas couldn't understand what was going on.

" _The darkness that now engulfs you is that of your own master. He implanted a piece of his own heart into you, for what reason, it currently remains a mystery. While this darkness is still embedded in your heart, he will always have control over you."_

"You've got to be kidding me!" Vanitas said angrily, struggling to free himself. Suddenly, what he heard from the voice struck him properly. If he was going to be using the power of the man he has come to loathe, it would be a pyric victory, He would need to use his own power to win this war. "So he's going to keep on controlling me?" he asked.

" _Yes, but don't be afraid. You will be able to defeat the darkness, free yourself from his hold. However, when you accomplish this, you will lose a great portion of your current strength. Are you willing to go through with this now?"_

Vanitas' temper shot up for a moment when he thought the voice implied that he was afraid, but calmed himself down to take in the voice's instruction. It was right. Vanitas promised himself that he was going to make himself stronger, and that wasn't going to happen if he was going to let a piece of Xehanort living within him. He closed his eyes, ignoring the darkness, and focused on his own strength, power and heart, becoming less concerned of the fact that he was being consumed as time went on. The dark aura was becoming stronger; starting to completely block out Vanitas. After a few more seconds, it had finished the job, leaving nothing more than a mass of dark flame where he stood.

"NICE TRY!" came his voice.

The dark flame suddenly burst, no, shattered into hundreds of pieces. As the shards fell, Vanitas stood strong, straight and with determination written across his face. He could feel the darkness, Xehanort's darkness, separate from him entirely.

"Like I'm going to let myself become a vessel. I will become stronger!" stated Vanitas. He then turned back to the cloaked figure. He then looked back at his hand and tried to summon his Keyblade. This time, it worked, only the Keyblade in his hand was entirely different.

Almost the whole weapon was black, except for a purple diamond just above the handle in the guard. The guard was shaped like two black wings, connecting at the top and bottom of the handle; the keychain of the weapon was shaped like an actual chain with a crown with a crown at the end of it. The blade was just over an arm's length long, with the teeth of the weapon in the shape of a symbol. Vanitas looked at the weapon for a moment, surprised that he had a new Keyblade.

" _The "Oblivion". A Keyblade that represents demise and forgotten pasts. You gained this weapon after the part of your master living within you was finally destroyed. Let this Keyblade be a reminder of being able to overcome his control, the first step to achieving your goals."_

Vanitas admired his new weapon, impressed with the design and slightly disappointed that he wasn't able to get it sooner. His attention got quickly drawn to the dark shards from the aura that tried to engulf him. They became pieces of dark smoke that floated into the palm of the being in the black cloak. When he was finished, he built up a strong aura around him.

Vanitas took his stance and charged at the Black coat, lunging at him with the point of the Oblivion. The figure dodged to the side. Vanitas stopped and turned his body toward him, swiping the weapon horizontally as he did so. As the tip of the weapon travelled, it created a shockwave of blue and black energy. The figure curled up into a ball and spun, causing him to narrowly avoid the shockwave. Vanitas soon aimed the tip of the blade at him and fired a ball of fire at him. When it was half way towards the figure, it split into multiple streams of fire, hitting him at multiple angles. The figure was slammed into the ground from the final fire stream. He got back up on his feet, the dark aura had offered some protection, but not much. The figure was starting to lose his balance, which Vanitas decided to take advantage of the opportunity; he raised his Keyblade into the air and, with a bit more difficulty than before, summoned the three dark crystals that would generate the dark cannon. He aimed the tip at the figure and fired the beam, only the colour scheme had changed, the edge remaining black while the inner part shone with a bright light. When the beam hit the figure, it went straight through, causing the figure to vanish like it was an apparition.

The beam faded soon after that, not lasting as long as it did once before. It also left Vanitas with very little power. "Woah, I didn't think that attack used that much energy… it's going to take a while to build that u- OH NO!" Vanitas suddenly realised he was now at a major disadvantage. "Now that I'm weaker, I won't be able to fight the kidnappers. This isn't good.

" _Don't be afraid. You are still more than capable of defeating an opponent through physical combat, and you will become strong again. Never forget, the strength you wield, will be vital in achieving your goals… and in the protection of this world from the threat to come."_

"Wait, what?" Vanitas asked.

"You ought to be prepared for it." Came a voice from behind him.

Vanitas turned and saw himself in his old body suit and mask. The copy was standing as still as a statue, whether waiting for him to attack of just trying to annoy him, Vanitas wasn't sure. He would be lying if he said it certainly wasn't the latter.

The body suit summoned Vanitas' original Keyblade at his side and took up his fighting stance. The real Vanitas did the same, only he took the first strike, jumping high into the air and spinning, firing bolts of lightning as he spun. The copy vanished from the ground, reappearing right above Vanitas, raising his Keyblade high into the air before bring it down towards Vanitas' head. The real Vanitas' peripheral vision just managed to see this and brought his Keyblade up in defence. Since he had to do it so quickly, the guard was too awkward for him to hold. He pushed the enemy's away and kicked him in the stomach. The copy was sent flying, but counterattacked with by firing a large ball of fire past Vanitas's head, which splintered into multiple missiles of fire. Vanitas felt the heat of the missiles and turned to them, slicing as many of them as he could, causing them to dissipate. He felt two strike him in his left leg, causing him to grunt. He caught sight of the copy lunging towards him with his weapon in hand. It was soon covered with a dark aura. Before Vanitas could defend, the tip struck him in the centre of his chest; instead of piercing him, the aura exploded, causing Vanitas to be rocketed back onto the platform.

Vanitas was finding it difficult to move, as that last attack sent pain flooding through his body. As he struggled to get up, he saw the copy walking up to him, stopping right in front of him. Vanitas saw the Oblivion Keyblade behind the copy. He tried to summon it back, but he was running out of energy again.

The copy finally to speak. "What's wrong? Giving up already?"

Vanitas flinched. He recognised that voice. An amalgamation of two voices. The mask began to fade way, as if it was being burned in a fire. When it was gone, it showed the face of a boy around his age, spiky, orange hair pale skin and, much to Vanitas' shock, the same yellow eyes that Vanitas has.

It was the combination of Ventus and Vanitas after the Latter fused them together to create the "X-blade". Ventus-Vanitas.

Vanitas found himself paralysed. Not from the pain, but from the sudden shock of seeing him. The worst reminder of his past. He composed himself, reminding himself that the fight wasn't done yet.

"Heal." Vanitas said. A weak cure spell appeared, healing his injuries and pain slightly. It may not have been a complete recovery, but it was enough. He rolled onto his back and onto his feet, staying close to the ground, as if ready to pounce.

" _You have freed yourself from Xehanort's hold, but that isn't the reason you're here. You yourself asked that very question that will be answered here and now."_

Vanitas was confused at first, but then he remembered what he was thinking back at Natsu and Happy's house. He was wondering if he was truly worthy of wielding the Keyblade. The dark reminder of his past gave his a snide smirk.

"Him, really, I'd rather let a dog wield the Keyblade than this loser." He said.

Vanitas ignored him. He was deciding what approach to take in order to defeat him. He proved to be just as good as him in terms of swordplay, and his magic wouldn't be as helpful as before. His only choice would need to use a different tactic. He thought about going hand-to-hand, but he didn't have much experience there. However, an idea came to his mind. He started chuckling light, which confused Ventus-Vanitas.

"What are you laughing at?" he asked.

"You said you'd rather let a dog wield a Keyblade before me, right? You'd fit the criteria easily." Vanitas stated.

This caused Ventus-Vanitas to tense, the comment clearly having got to him.

"What did you say?" he asked, his tone becoming much darker.

"Don't you remember? You followed Xehanort around like one, doing his bidding without question, afraid to go against what he said. You talk about being all high and mighty, thinking you're better than everyone else. Well let me tell you some, you're nothing than a pathetic COWARD!"

All was silent for a moment. Then Ventus-Vanitas started growling, his face plastered with uncontrollable rage. He raised his weapon, coating it in black flames. With a blood-curdling scream, he zoomed towards Vanitas with intent to kill. Vanitas took advantage of the situation. He quickly shifted to the side, causing Ventus-Vanitas to embed his Keyblade into the platform. He tried to pull it out, but it wouldn't move an inch. With his frustration getting the better of him, acting as the perfect distraction, Vanitas ran to the Oblivion, picking it up, holding it by the blade. He turned to see Ventus-Vanitas staring to make progress in pulling out the weapon. With as much strength as he could muster, Vanitas through the Oblivion like a javelin, sending it flying, piercing Ventus-Vanitas in the left side of his chest, more specifically his heart.

Ventus-Vanitas let go of his weapon. He didn't utter a single word as the life quickly left his body. He turned to real Vanitas, fear now present in his eyes. Vanitas met his gaze, but was finding it troubling to look, as it reminded him of himself after he lost to Ventus. The fear of losing yourself to the feeling of nothing.

Ventus-Vanitas collapsed to the ground. He began to fade away in a dark smoke. When he was gone, Vanitas fell and landed on his backside. He began to laugh. He remembered his words towards the copy. He knew that he was aiming his words towards himself as much as it was the copy. He was nothing but a lackey, blindly bothering orders. But now, it's over, we would let go of who he was, and focus on who he can and would be.

" _You have passed. You have proven you yourself worthy of the Keyblade. May you find worth in the days to come."_

…

Vanitas shot out of his bed. Instead of looking from side to side, he just looked at one of the walls of his room, remembering his dream. He was wondering if whether or not if what he had experienced in his dream was the real deal or not. Just to confirm, he held out his hand and called for his weapon. As soon as he willed for it to appear, it materialised. At first, he saw his original Keyblade, causing him to feel disheartened. However, cracks began to appear in the Keyblade. They kept growing and growing, each one letting out a small bit of light. In an instance, the Keyblade burst, creating a blinding light that engulfed the entire cottage. After seconds, the light faded. When Vanitas' sight returned to him, he saw that his original Keyblade was replaced by the Oblivion.

He grinned at the sight. He dematerialised it and looked out the window. He saw the moon and estimated it was around 1am in the morning. He decided to head over to the guild to see what was going on. He exited the house, ensuring it was locked properly, and began jogging.

…

"COME ON YOU ICE-FREAK!" yelled Natsu.

"DON'T NEED YOU TELL ME THAT, HOT-HEAD!" roared Gray.

The party was still in full swing, despite it being very early in the morning. By now, they would be approached by the city guard and be told to stop, but Makarov had took the liberty of using a spell he had been experimenting with for a while; a barrier that would negate the sound of anything on the inside of it. Anyone could go in and out of it as they pleased, so it would certainly be handy if, in this case, they wanted to join a party who was creating an unpleasant level of noise.

Everyone had shown no sign of fatigue and boredom, clearly enjoying themselves. However, there was on person who was a little down in the dumps.

When Lisanna was on that mission with Vanitas, she thought of him more as a threat than a potential ally. When she saw him teleporting through the city, she thought that there was a criminal loose in the city. She thought of how terrifying he was when he stood up to the cloaked wizard, proving to have more darkness in his soul than any villain than they had faced. But there was something else.

She was horrified when she learned how the cloaked figure had done the same thing to more people and would've done more. She was shaken to the point where she believed that there wasn't any point to the good they had accomplished before was for nothing if there was still going to be crimes like this in the world. She had never felt so alone. Vanitas, however, managed to pull her out of that darkness. She was reminded that with her friends, no, her family, anything was possible, they could take on any problem they were faced. They would help to save their home from the evil within.

All of this has given her a sort of… interest in the dark warrior. She was keen on learning more about him.

Mirajane noticed her sister's gloomy mood and intervened. "Are you okay Lisanna?" she asked.

Lisanna perked up upon hearing her older sister's voice. "Huh? Uh, yeah, I'm okay. It's just… is Vanitas going to come at all?" she asked.

Mirajane gave her a cheeky smile. "oh, does someone have a little crush?"

Lisanna's face became the shade of red that you would see on a tomato, being unable to say anything at first. When she was able, she stuttered "U-uh, no, I… w-what is up with you Mira?"

Mira giggled and let the matter drop, soon answering her question about Vanitas. "I don't know, it was his first Fairy Tail mission, the first in a while even when we didn't get a bill for property damage. It couldn't have been easy at all." She pointed out.

If there was anything Fairy Tail was famous for other than its boundless strength and spirit, it was its ability to go overboard in any scenario, which would often lead to property damage from fights, upset city officials and a certain Fairy Tail master crying from how much the guild owed the entire country for the damage caused.

Lisanna couldn't help but chuckle. "Guess you've got a point." She said.

"NATSU, GRAY, WILL YOU CALM DOWN ALREADY!" yelled Erza.

"SHUT UP!" roared Natsu and Gray, not realising it was Erza who was yelling at them. Out of anger, they both fired large missiles of their respective elements. They narrowly missed Erza, who was stunned at having been roared at like that. It was quickly replaced with anger. However, it was quickly replaced by pure shock when she heard them explode and a roar of pain. She and everyone in the guild turned towards the source of the noise and found the entrance destroyed, as well as someone lying face down on the ground, with ash and smoke covering that person.

Wendy ran out first and gasped when she recognised the injured person.

"VANITAS!" she screamed.

She tried shaking him awake, but had no luck. She was beginning to panic. She raised her hands over him and began to build up energy in her hands. As the sky Dragonslayer, she had the ability to use powerful healing magic. However, the energy dissipated quickly when she saw Vanitas starting to get back up as if he had just tripped and fell over. When he was back on his feet completely, he gave a cold, dark glare towards Natsu and Gray, one that was more chilling than anything Erza could've thrown at them.

"What the heck was that for?" he asked calmly. It was slightly worrying, as it was in a calm sort of way a person would sound if they were going for the kill.

The two wizards were silent for a moment before they both pointed their fingers at each other yelling "HE DID IT!"

Straight after, Vanitas summoned his new Keyblade and cast two spells he hadn't tried in a while. He cast a spell on Gray which involved a timer in a red circle hovering over him that was counting down from 5. Natsu, however, was being encased in a shell of ice before he was completely engulfed. When the timer hit zero for Gray, he was caught in an explosion, which also caused the ice crystal Natsu was trapped in burst into pieces. When it was finished, Gray was unable to move with the amount of blisters on his skin and Natsu was struggling to fight the cold that had penetrated his body.

"That… was…" Gray started.

"COLD!" finished Natsu, his voice sounding like a whimper.

Vanitas couldn't help but chuckle. "I assume you wouldn't be on the receiving end of actions like this."

"Actually, they usually are… by me." Erza said. She then decided to glance towards the two young wizards, both of whom shivered in fear from her.

"Hey everyone, what did I miss?" came Makarov's voice from behind the crowd. He looked like he was after falling asleep during the party.

"Vanitas finally made it, now we can really have some fun." Mirajane said.

Makarov raised a fist into the air. "You got that right!" he yelled.

In that instance, everything went back to its chaotic state. Natsu and Gray, however, were still struggling to move. Wendy got to work on healing them. Vanitas raised his Keyblade into the air, generating a green light. After it faded, the ice wizard and the fire Dragonslayer were healed even more quickly. This surprised the trio. They were confused at what happened until they saw the Keyblade wielder twirling the Keyblade around in his hand.

"You're not the only one around here who knows how to use healing magic. Hope it won't cause any trouble." He said casually, as if he hadn't just attacked his new friends.

"Not at all, it's pretty cool to have someone with the same power as me. It'll definitely help on other jobs. Uh, not that I want to be relying on you all the time or something, it's just-" Vanitas interrupted by placing his hand on her head and gently rubbing it.

"Relax, no need to get nervous. So, did I miss anything at all?"

Natsu, now fully healed, jumped to his feet and put his hands on Vanitas' shoulders. "We got a special thing planned for you." He grinned cheerfully. "You ready?"

Vanitas was sceptical about this. He could tell Natsu was one for messing with other people for the fun of it. Whether or not it was to a severe degree, he didn't know… well, not yet.

Natsu gently shoved him towards the bar counter, where Mirajane had lifted a giant object under a white cloth onto the table. His scepticism was becoming reduced to curiosity, knowing how Mirajane was involved in this convinced him that there wasn't going to be much fowl play.

"I kind of picked up on how large parties may not be your thing." She said.

"So you decided to through me one all the same?" he asked her.

"I didn't really pick up on it until Lisanna said you would be late. Sorry about that." Mirajane was sounding a bit sheepish, feeling a bit silly for having set up the party.

"Sorry? What nonsense is this? I really appreciate the thought and effort. Besides, who said I wasn't into parties, I was just tired after the mission is all."

Mirajane perked up immediately. "Really?" she asked. Vanitas nodded. "Oh yay!" she exclaimed.

"Now that that's settled, show him what's under the sheet." Said Gray, starting to become impatient.

"I agree. We have been working on this all day, don't you dare let it go to waste!" Erza said with extreme seriousness. No matter what was going on, Erza would have a fierce determination that one would expect from a war general.

Mirajane grabbed the sheet and pulled it off, revealing a 3ft cake with red and white frosting with the heart shape on his necklace was drawn on the top.

"I thought you might like it." Mirajane said.

"It's beautiful. Thanks Mirajane." Vanitas said.

"Please, call me Mira." she said back.

"Alright then. So, Mira, what flavour is the cake?"

Mirajane offered him a paper plate and a plastic fork. "How about you find out for yourself?"

Vanitas shrugged his shoulders and took the items. He picked up a pre-cut slice, which he thought was odd but didn't want to offend anyone, an d placed it on the plate. He used the fork to break off a piece and inserted it into his mouth. Everyone stared at him with very keen interest, wanting to get his opinion. He actually downed the piece in an instant, but he found the intense staring entertaining.

"A sweet blend of strawberry and Vanilla. My two second favourites. Great job!" he said.

Everyone cheered. They were soon keen on getting a slice each, some of them having to fight their way to get a slice. Mirajane was doing her best to control the situation, with Erza in tow. Surprisingly, Erza was very passionate about sweet things and didn't want the cake to be ruined by getting knocked over or something like that.

Vanitas was still enjoying his first slice, taking his time. He reckoned that he wouldn't be able to get a second one anytime soon. As he was leaning against the side of one of the tables, he saw one of the members walking towards his direction.

"I'm guessing you're Levy?" he asked

The girl with long, blue hair was surprised. "How did you know?" she asked, genuinely surprised.

"Lucy told me about you on our way back from that village that Nightmare was wrecking. She told me about your script magic. Just want to make sure, being able to write words in the air and then said words will act, like writing fire in the air will create a fireball that will roast any bad guys your way?" Vanitas noticed her surprise.

She soon composed herself and stared at him with a playful frown. "You're pretty well informed, aren't you? You thinking of learning how to use it?" she asked.

"I don't know. I'm pretty comfortable with what I can do. Besides, I kind of need to do some "back to square one" training, starting tomorrow.

"What, why?" she asked.

Vanitas was hesitant for a moment. He then placed his cake on the table and summoned his Keyblade. "A lot of my power came from a dark place, something I needed to let go of. As a result, I actually lost part of my power in the process. I need to train to get back what I lost, not having to rely on the kind of stuff that can… well, lead a person down the wrong path." He dematerialised his weapon and held his fist right up against his face. "I won't let the darkness tell me how to live my life."

Levy was surprised at his honesty about his current situation, especially since he just told it so a complete stranger.

"In case you're wondering, if Lucy and her team trust you, then I trust you just as much." Vanitas held out his hand to her. She responded by grabbing it and shaking it.

"Alright then. So, what else can you do, or, what can you still do?" she asked.

Vanitas was about to answer when he heard a soft, squelching noise. He turned to the source and saw that Natsu had crashed into the cake. The room suddenly went incredibly silent, fear written on everyone's faces except his own. It was only when he came across Erza did he realise why they all seemed scared.

Her eyes were focused on Natsu, which were filled with a supreme level of anger and despair at, most likely, him having ruined the cake. She held out her right hand and summoned what seemed to be a giant axe that only a giant could use, yet she was able to wield it with ease. Furthermore, a strong, magical aura was starting to build up around her. Natsu was still sitting on the cake, fear written all over his face.

Vanitas looked back at Levy. "To start off with, I can still teleport. Talk toy you later Levy." Vanitas said. He vanished in an instant, taking the smart approach and escaping before he would witness what he assumed would be a ferocious revenge. Levy began to worry, mainly for Natsu's sake that Erza would go even more overboard than she had before in the past on the fire wizard.

"I didn't even get a slice…" Erza whispered.

She raised her sword up into the air. When she brought it down, someone appeared right in front of her, raising an unusual sword in Natsu's defence. Both blades connected, creating a strong gust of wind that blew many of the members away, including Natsu and the rest of the cake. Erza looked to see who it was who stopped her.

It was none other than the dark Keyblade wielder.

"You dare interrupt me when I am delivering punishment!?" Erza roared.

Vanitas smirked. "If losing the cake was that upsetting for you, you can have the rest of mine… or…" he raised his free hand and clicked his fingers and, in a quick moment, appeared a bar of light blue ice-cream on a stick. Erza's expression immediately changed from a vengeful growl to one of awe and amazement. Vanitas silently offered it to her. They both unsummoned their weapons and Erza took the ice-cream. After she took a brief bite out of it, a tense silence followed. No one would be sure of how she would react if the treat wasn't to her liking.

Vanitas could swear, however, that he saw sparkles in her eyes a few seconds after she took the bite.

"It's… It's magnificent!" she said, causing everyone to breathe out a sigh of relief.

"What is this?" she asked in a demanding tone.

"Sea salt ice-cream. Something I came across a while back, got a bit of a weakness for them. I usually carry one with me in case I get hungry."

Erza wolfed down the rest of the treat and bowed before him, causing everyone, including Vanitas himself, yell in surprise.

"Thank you so much. Can you tell me where I can get more?" she asked.

"They wouldn't sell it here in Fiore, I'm afraid. But I can show you how to make it, usually the homemade versions are better than the ones you buy in stores anyway.

"Then please teach me!" she said, now on her knees.

"What are you doing? Stand up already! No one bows to me, and I bow to no one, okay. Besides, we're… we're friends, right?" Vanitas said. He had found it unusually difficult to think of anyone as a friend, given his past, so saying it out loud was a new concept for him.

Gray appeared behind him. "Finally, he said it."

"Aye, this is great!" yelled Happy.

Everyone cheered for Vanitas. He wasn't exactly sure why though.

"We could tell you were the lone wolf kind of guy, which isn't all bad, but it's good for you to acknowledge that you've got friends looking out for you." Gray explained.

Vanitas took in his words slowly. He turned to see Natsu when his eyes came upon Lisanna. She saw him too and gave him a wink. Vanitas smirked and gave her a two fingered salute in return.

With that, the party continued yet again. Vanitas smiled at the level of energy they possessed.

He was about to head back to the bar when a sudden chill went down his spine. He turned his head behind him, expecting to see someone, but there was nothing there. He shrugged it off and sat down at the bar, asking Mira for a cola drink.

"NATSU!" yelled Erza. Natsu appeared from the opposite side of the counter, his head still covered in scraps of the dessert.

"You still owe me a new cake." She said menacingly, which he responded to by nodding multiple times, quickly.

Vanitas leaned onto the counter with his drink in hand, admiring the activity in the room.

" _Glad I made the right choice."_ He thought to himself. He was about to take a sip when he noticed something in the reflection in the glass. He saw the yellow in his eyes slowly fade, as if something was emerging from underneath it. When it had finished, his eyes had completely changed colour. He looked into a clear picture of water and saw that they were now ocean blue.

He grinned and raised his glass to himself. "I wonder what else life has in store?"


	5. Field Trip

"Happy, did you barricade the door?" Natsu asked.

"Aye, there's no way she is going to get in here." Happy replied.

Guys, will you relax already? It's been three weeks, she's probably already over it. Besides, I told her I'd teach her how to make ice-cream. Cake would probably be the last thing on her mind." Vanitas said, still resting in his bed. He had been with the guild for a while now, learning to get along with other members, taking on different jobs, etc. It was a great time; he had never felt so… at peace before. Meanwhile, Natsu and Happy were unable to relax with the threat of Erza looming over their shoulders, so they spent the next few weeks working on a method of keeping Erza away from them.

Vanitas hadn't lost any sleep over it during the nights, but he got a rather shocking awakening this morning when he heard the sound of a jackhammer. He woke up to find the two using said tool to build an escape tunnel. He thought it was a little too much, but he decided to leave them be. He tried to go back to sleep, but he gave up after half an hour. He decided to pick up a nearby book and read.

"Hey, Vanitas, you want to help us? We could use the extra muscle." asked Natsu.

"No thanks, I'm good. By the way, what are you doing with a copy of "The Princess Blade" in this house?" he asked.

"It was a gift from Lucy. Besides, what guy would bother reading a book like that?" Happy retorted.

Vanitas shuffled in the bed a little bit to make himself more comfortable. "Well, I had to do something when I got bored watching your guys turn this place into fort Knox." This brought on a look of confusion from Natsu and Happy. "Never mind. Plus, there's actually a lot of action in here. I didn't think a tiger and a ninja could make such an awesome duo."

This caught their attention. Vanitas held out the book, letting them read what he was reading. They both shoved their faces into the book, only to have Vanitas slam the book closed in their faces.

"Make fun of me, you pay the price." Vanitas said. Natsu and Happy were struggling to get out of the book when they heard a knock on the door. They stopped for a moment.

"Who is it?" Happy asked with his voice sounding mushed.

"It's Erza. Where are you Natsu?"

Immediately, Natsu and Happy's faces were drained of colour and had fear written all over them. Vanitas, however, had a raised set of eyebrows and slightly widened eyes.

"Well, what do you know, I was wrong." Vanitas released them from the book. "So, how do you think she's going to kill you?" he asked playfully.

"YOU'RE NOT HELPING!" roared Natsu.

"You want me to help, don't wake me up with the sound of a flipping jack hammer." Vanitas stated.

"Alright, I'm opening the door." Erza said. Straight after, the barricade was blown away, revealing Erza with a raised foot in the air.

"I'll say it again. Where are you?" she asked again. Her question was answered when she heard a small farting noise in a nearby room.

"NATSU!"

"Sorry Happy!"

Erza walked into the room and saw the trio.

"Now, are you ready to listen to what I have to say?" she said.

Natsu and Happy slowly nodded. Vanitas remained still for a second before saying "Can you guys talk in another room? If were having house guests, I should dress for company."

Erza nodded and pointed to the living room while looking at the other two residents. They zoomed into the other room. Erza was about to close the door when she decided to ask a quick question.

"Do you ever think about getting your own place to live? I'm sure it is interesting around here, but it could be better for you to find a place that best suits you?"

"That wouldn't be a bad idea. Living here is okay, but there's only so much of Natsu's… well, you know, I can take."

"Fair point. Right, I'll leave you to it. I need to talk to you as well, so can you try to be quick?" Erza asked.

Vanitas was quite surprised to hear this. "Uh, okay." He answered.

Erza nodded and closed the door. Vanitas got out of his bed and looked at his trousers thinking " _Maybe I should be worried too."_

…..

"Alright, so what's up?" Natsu asked, somehow managing to get over his paranoia. Happy, however, was still sweating a river on his end. Vanitas was fully dressed and keen on hearing what Erza had to say.

"Earlier today, Fairy Tail received a job request that is quite unusual compared to what we are normally asked to do. I decided it would be best to gather all of the members of the team for this. The other guild members are also preparing for it as well." Erza started.

Vanitas sat up straight. "Hold on. The entire guild is getting involved?" he asked.

Erza nodded. "I'm not sure how you will be able to handle this Vanitas, but I am more focused on preparing Natsu for this due to his habit of destroying things on missions. Tell me, Natsu. Are you ready for this?" she asked.

Natsu stood up and slammed his fists together. "Oh yeah! A new challenge, this has got me Fired up now!" he stated.

Vanitas shook his head. "Before we do something reckless, how about you tell us what this job is about."

…

She awoke feeling rested and cheerful. She sat up in her bed and stretched out her arms, trying to wake up her muscles. When she was ready, she got up and proceeded with her usual morning routine. She showered, brushed her teeth, then her hair, before checking for anything else in the mirror.

"I wonder what's in store today?" Lucy asked herself cheerfully.

When she was finished, she she tied her hair into a pony tail and put on a jacket with her usual set of clothes. She took in a deep breath, looking forward to the day ahead. She opened the door to her bedroom, keen on getting a nice breakfast.

That is until she saw Natsu, Gray, Happy, Wendy and Erza sitting around the breakfast table, eating her cereal.

"Morning Lucy." Said Natsu with a mouth full of toast.

"What's up." Gray asked.

"Good choice of cereal, Lucy." Erza commented.

"Aye." Happy said.

"Sorry if we're bothering you Lucy." Said Wendy, seemingly nervous.

"WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING IN HERE AGAIN!" Lucy roared.

"Aw, come on, we're a team, right? We stick together, through and through." Natsu said.

Lucy was beginning to lose her temper with Natsu. "They also know when to respect each other's PRIVACY!" Lucy exclaimed. She then rushed at Natsu, striking him viciously in the face with a fast, side-kick. Natsu was sent flying across the room, still clinging on to his toast.

"My, aren't we a little grumpy this morning." Erza said.

Lucy sighed. "Everything was going so well." She muttered under her breath. "Well, what's up? I doubt you'd all be here if it wasn't important."

…

Vanitas and Carla were outside the entrance of Lucy's apartment. They had opted to respect her privacy, not wanting to cause any trouble. However, judging by what they heard in the room, it was in vain.

"I do say, it is atrocious what they do to that poor woman, and to make it worse, thay are making Wendy an accessory to it as well." Carla said, clearly annoyed.

"Well, with all the yelling in there, I bet they've got their just deserts, Man I didn't think Lucy had a temper like that. I guess it's true what they say." Vanitas said.

Carla turned to him out of interest from what he said. "What would that be?" she asked.

" _Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."_ Vanitas said, adding a brief chuckle at the end.

"Quite right. So you ought not to get on my bad side." Carla responded. She breathed in deeply and exhaled before asking Vanitas a question. "So, how do you feel about this job?"

Vanitas was silent for a moment. However, he soon pulled out a sheet of paper, the flyer for the job, and read it from top to bottom, reading out loud as his eyes scanned the words.

"Let's see… Request for a field trip to the Fairy Tail mage guild, class of 32 kindergarten children, wish to see mages who helped save the world, please notify via lacrima provided." Vanitas read. He put the flyer back in his pocket before shaking his head.

"Honestly, Carla… from what I heard, it could be the most difficult challenge the guild has faced." Vanitas admitted. "I know the guild's great with big events and all, which reminds me, I've got to sign up for that race, but with how serious they could get, they could end up scaring the kids. You've seen how Natsu can get when he tries to put too much effort into something."

Carla was silent for a moment. She recalled one time they were at a resort during the grand magic games, he used a powerful fire attack to try and thaw out a pool with its water turned to ice, only to destroy the entire resort in a single blow.

"Perhaps you have the right to worry, but there may be hope for us yet. I'm sure everything will be alright." She said with confidence.

"… Yeah." Vanitas responded.

Within seconds, the door opened. He saw Lucy exit first, then Wendy, Erza and Natsu, Gray and Happy struggling to get out at the same time. When they managed to pop out, Lucy locked the door and started squealing with excitement.

"This is great! We get to inspire a whole load of kids to do great things in their lives. We are going to be the world's best role models!" she said, barely able to reign in the excitement.

"Better get all that adrenaline out of that system. I know it's a great opportunity, but if you're planning on _inspiring_ the kids to get hyper on the trip and get in trouble, it'd be best to try and stay calm." Vanitas pointed out.

Lucy quickly made a pouting face. "You're no fun." Lucy said, seemingly upset from Vanitas' words.

Erza decided to speak up. "If we're finished lolly-gagging, we have work to do." She started pointing at various members of the group, barking orders at them.

"Natsu, go to the store and get the supplies we need, Levy made a list back at the guild."

"Gray, you go to the area where the bus for the children is going to be and make yourself presentable, we must make a good first impression."

"Happy, go help Natsu."

"Wendy, you and Carla head back to the guild and help with the decoration."

She then turned to Lucy and Vanitas. She gave them a brief smile. "You two are going to help me make a special treat for the end of the tour." Lucy was surprised, but Vanitas saw through what she was planning.

"Is this just an excuse to make more of that ice-cream I let you try, right?" he asked confidently.

"Quite right. Only it won't be just ice-cream. We are going to make an ice-cream cake!" she responded.

"Sea-salt ice-cream cake… I like it." Vanitas said. "Okay, we got the plan sorted. When are they due to arrive again?" he asked.

Erza pulled out her own copy of the flyer, reading it carefully before answering. "Half an hour." She said.

There was a moment of tense silence for exactly ten seconds before everyone started to panic.

"Are you KIDDING! We don't have time to prepare for all that, we only got the request a couple of days ago, we haven't fully prepared!" yelled Lucy.

"In that case, let's make up for lost time. C'mon Happy, let's fly!" exclaimed Natsu.

"No problem, partner!" responded Happy. They both jumped out of a nearby window, with Happy latching onto Natsu's back and flying off towards the nearest place where they could get all the equipment.

"Right, let's get started!" Gray exclaimed, jumping out the same window, a long, flat stretch of ice that he was sliding on, extending it as he went along.

"Nice, I wonder if he can teach me that?" he said.

"Might as well, he and Natsu have been training for you for a while now." Wendy pointed out.

Vanitas raised his eyebrows and looked up at the ceiling, remembering the training sessions he had with the rival wizards. After he explained his situation to the team, he received a number of shocked faces. Natsu immediately offered to help train him, even though Vanitas could tell he was just looking for an excuse to fight. Gray decided to lend a hand as well. Natsu asked the rest of the group if they would like to help, but they refused, not wanting to get involved with an idea that Natsu himself came up with, as they usually failed miserably. He finally understood how they felt, as their first training session ended with the two "trainers" trying to kill each other.

He shook his head, putting the memories at the back of his mind and focused on the job at hand.

"Okay, just a sec." Vanitas pulled out a piece of paper and a pen, both he kept in his pockets recently in case they need it. He wrote down a number of ingredients on the paper, then handing it to Lucy. "Alright, can you and Erza pick these ingredients please? I'd appreciate it."

Lucy took the list and gave him a two fingered salute. "No problem. Let's go Erza." She said.

"Alright then." Erza said.

With that, they made their way out of the building. Vanitas, Wendy and Carla walked out of the building. Wendy looked up at Vanitas.

"Why didn't you go with them?" she asked.

"I actually wanted to check out a couple of places earlier today to live in. Natsu and Happy's place is great and all, but it's kind of small for two people." He explained.

"Well why didn't you leave earlier?" asked Carla.

"After I stayed the first night and told them my planned to find my own place, they started getting upset at the fact that they were losing a roommate. So decided to drop the subject. But a couple of days ago, they apologised and told me it was okay if I wanted to leave. So, I'm checking out of apartments advertised around tow." He replied.

"Oh. Okay. I hope you find the place your looking for." Wendy said.

"He may have just found it." Came a voice from behind them.

They all turned towards the doorway and saw a short, overweight old women.

"It just so happened that I've a new apartment available; the rent's cheap, as good as Lucy's apartment, who I assume you know, and I'm willing to give you let you off the first couple of months' worth of rent."

"Uh, why are you trying to set up a bargain with me, exactly?" Vanitas asked, certain that she was hiding something.

"Well, ever since the other residents learned of how the salamander kept breaking into one of the apartments, they didn't feel very secure, so they left. I need residents as soon as possible. What do you say?" The woman kept a stern expression on her face as she spoke.

"Well… I know my way around locks, so I don't have to worry about break-ins, even from Natsu… tell you what. I've got a job to do today, can I come back here tomorrow and check it out."

"I've no problem with that, see you then." She said, closing the door as she went back inside.

Carla spoke up. "Alright, Wendy, let's get back to the guild."

Wendy nodded and turned back to the dark warrior. "See you later then." She said, giving him a small wave.

Vanitas gave her a thumbs up and teleported out of sight.

…

Erza, shouldn't you wait for Vanitas!?" Lucy asked. They got all the ingredients Vanitas asked for and returned to the guild, looking to use the kitchen there to make the ice-cream. Unfortunately, Vanitas hadn't turned up yet, and Erza was becoming impatient.

"Nonsense, we can make this ourselves if the boy won't bother to show up. Now, hand me the sea-salt." She said.

Afraid of angering her, she handed her the packet of salt. Erza then opened the packet and poured it into a large bowl, while at the same time throwing the other ingredients in at the same time.

"Uh, Erza… I'm pretty sure you're doing it wrong. We should really wait for him." Lucy commented.

"Don't worry, Lucy, I know what I'm doing." Erza stated. However, she was quickly proven wrong, when the salt began melting and souring the other ingredients. "What? What is happening?"

"Looks like it's harder than it sounds." Lucy said.

As if to further to increase their difficulty, they heard the sound of children laughing outside the guild. Lucy looked out a window and saw a large group of kindergarten children and a couple of teachers outside, with Gray leading the way.

"Oh no…" Lucy said.

….

"Well, hope you enjoyed the tour around the city, I bet you didn't think Magnolia had that many candy stores." Gray said.

One of the children spoke up. "Thanks for the look around the city. If it's okay to ask, can we see what kind of magic you can use, please?"

One of the teachers began to look nervous. Gray noticed this and chuckled. "Sure, but just something small. I'm saving a lot of my power for a battle against bad guys."

The children looked in awe, imagining what he can do against the bad guys. Gray then raised his hands in the air and breathed slowly. Soon, cold air began to gather around his hands. When it faded, he opened his hands and revealed a small sculpture shaped like the Fairy Tail emblem.

"It's called "Ice-Maker" magic. I can mould ice into any shape, pretty handy. The best part about it is that the shapes you can make is boundless, the only limit is your imagination, which around here is never in short supply. Am I right?"

The children were in great awe from what he said. They soon started asking a number of questions, which Gray would've been happy to answer. However, that chance was crushed when he heard a loud bang inside the guild hall.

"What the heck? Hang on a second." Gray said. He went to the main entrance and opened the door to peek in on what was going on inside. What he saw caused him to grimace. The entire guild was covered in ash, anything fabric was smoking, and the guild members were all out for the count. He turned back to the group and smiled.

"Uh, can you guys excuse me for a moment?" he asked.

He went inside and still couldn't believe what he was seeing. "What happened here!?" he asked.

Mirajane and Natsu appeared slowly from under one of the tables that were still in one piece.

Mira was the first to speak. "Oh, Gray, we tried to cook the food more quickly when we heard the school bus was coming early. Natsu tried using some Fire Lacrima he got from an old supply store, he put it in the oven and it caused an explosion. Thank goodness no one was hurt."

"I was only trying to help!" Natsu explained.

"You idiot, why did you have to do this now!?" Gray asked. He took in a deep breath to try and calm himself. "Alright. See if you can find Vanitas, we're going to need his help. I'll go lead the kids somewhere else." Gray quickly went back outside.

"Uh, sorry kids, the guild is… preparing a surprise that they forgot to let me in on. They're not finished just yet, so we're going to do something fun while we wait. Does anyone have any suggestions?"

Another one of the children spoke up. "Can we see a wizard on wizard fight please?" This caused an uproar of excitement. Said child continued. "My dad said he saw you in the grand magic games and said you were awesome. I really want to see what it was like."

One of the supervising teachers chuckled nervously, quietly asking the child to stop. Gray smiled at the child.

"First, tell your dad I said thanks. Second, I'd be happy to give a demonstration. I'll check whose available for a match." Gray said. He was about to go inside when he heard the sound of a weapon being summoned. That particular sound would only come off of one weapon. He looked at the top of the guild's entrance and saw the guild's Keyblade wielder, he was crouching, looking quite content and relaxed.

"I'm game, Gray. Hi everyone." Vanitas was surprisingly calm and care-free. It was proven more so when he jumped off of the entrance and twirled in the air multiple times, landing right beside Gray.

"Woah, that was cool! Who are you?" asked one of the children.

Gray decided to speak, placing a hand on Vanitas' shoulder. "This is Vanitas, are newest member. He's one heck of a swordsman, great with different kinds of magic and, surprisingly, a big fan of banana pies."

Vanitas looked back at him with a smirk. "Potassium and dessert, both rolled in one, what more could you want?" he asked.

This caused the children to laugh. Vanitas and Gray gave each other a fist-bump. "So, who wants to see a duel?" Gray asked.

All the children were all shouting yes, more than enough for the two mages to ready themselves.

"Hope all that training is going to pay off, man."

"Count on it." Vanitas replied. "Oh, one more thing." Vanitas clicked the fingers of his free hand and a pink barrier appeared around them.

"Just so that we don't cause much hassle for the town."

"Not a bad idea." Gray replied. Soon, cold air began to build up around him. Vanitas readied his battle stance soon after. After a couple of seconds, they zoomed towards each other with amazing speed. Vanitas thrusted the Keyblade towards Gray, who quickly summoned his ice shield in defence. Vanitas quickly pulled his weapon back and crouched, quickly spinning around, hoping to strike Gray in the legs. Gray managed to see this and summoned a pillar of ice which shot him high into the air. Vanitas jumped backwards and shot a fire spell at him, followed by a stream of lightning.

Gray then brought is hands together and summoned a piece of ice shaped like a hammer. "Ice make hammer!" he yelled. The hammer slammed down on the upcoming spells, blocking them. With a strong amount of condensation building up around him, Gray's vision was clouded. He quickly dropped towards the ground, only to see Vanitas as he was casing his weapon in dark energy. He swung the Keyblade as hard as he could, aiming for his head. His attack was blocked when Gray managed to summon a gauntlet of ice, which shattered when Vanitas hit it, but provided great protection all the same. They both landed safely on the ground. They readied themselves again, neither showing fatigue.

"Ready to give up?" asked Gray.

"Are you kidding, I'm just getting warmed up." Vanitas replied.

The children and the teachers were mesmerised by the display of power before them.

"Gray is so cool!" said one of the kids.

"That Vanitas guy is awesome too." Said another.

"Ice make Excalibur!" Gray exclaimed, summoning a giant sword made of ice. With it, he thrusted it towards the dark warrior. Vanitas followed suit and mirrored his actions. When their weapons connected, they found themselves locking their blades together. They brought their faces closer together.

"Not bad, man." Gray commented.

"Likewise." Vanitas replied. He then whispered "How long until the guild hall is fixed, do you think?"

….

"Alright, crisis averted." Mira stated. With the help of the other members, they managed to clean the mess and repair the damages. They also found a number of tasty treats to serve the kids when they went inside. Erza was quite disappointed that they failed to make the ice-cream cake, but so long as they didn't mess up the kid's day, it was alright.

"Okay, now for the extra surprise." Mira said. With a click of her fingers, a large, chocolate cake appeared in the middle of the hall. It was as wide as the tables and was half the height of the guild hall. It was very tasty looking, putting a smile on Erza's face once more.

"Right, now let's let the kids inside and give them a good show." Makarov said, rolling up behind Mira in his chair. No sooner had he said it did they hear the sound of clashing blades.

"Oh, what now?" he asked.

Lucy was first to check on what the situation was. She opened the door and saw Vanitas and Gray battling with each other with a large number of flashy magical attacks. She opened the doors completely to let the rest of the guild see what was going on.

"What are you guys doing!?" Lucy exclaimed.

The two combatants were at a safe distance from each other when they heard her voice. They turned to her and Vanitas said "Just putting on a little show."

"Now it's time for the grand finally. ICE MAKE EXCALIBUR!" Gray raised his hands into the air and created an even larger version of the sword he used on Vanitas earlier. He held it high in the air as he let magical energy build up around it.

Vanitas smirked. "Go big or go home, huh, alright then." He put the Keyblade at the left side as if he was going to unsheathe it from a scabbard. He quickly looked at the children and said "Remember kids, if you ever decide to learn magic, remember to master the magic before you get into a fight with another mage, that way you can do… THIS!" he said. On the last word, he dashed with magnificent speed, swinging out the Keyblade at Gray. At the same time, Gray had swung the sword and smashed it into the ground, creating a wall of ice that was moving towards Vanitas nearly as quickly as the dark warrior. However, as Vanitas swung the Keyblade, the weapon sliced through the ice. By the time he was finished the single swing, he had past Gray, the weapon outstretched in his arm as he whispered "Zantetsukan."

With that, a line of bright, white light flashed along Gray's stomach, with flower petals appearing soon after it. The barrier soon collapsed. Gray collapsed to the ground on his front. He rolled onto his back and chuckled.

"Now that was awesome." He said as best he could, the breath having left his body.

Vanitas was quiet for a second, then the arm he had his weapon in slowly became encased in ice. It soon spread all across his torso and his other arm. His Keyblade disappeared and, when he tried to stand up, he found it incredibly difficult to move.

"Woah, what did you do?" he asked.

Gray was surprised when he saw this, then grinned. "I guess I managed to land a hit on you. Anyone who gets hit from the ice ribbon, they become encased in ice. Although with how well you sliced it, I didn't think it had any affect."

"Well it did. Nice job. I guess we can call it a tie then." Vanitas said.

"Yeah, I guess so." Gray responded. He heaved himself up onto his feet and walked over to Vanitas. He offered him his hand, which Vanitas took, after a couple tries of trying to find it; the ice make it hard for him to co-ordinate. They soon heard the sound of clapping and cheering; which was from the children and the teachers alike.

"That was the coolest thing I ever saw! You guys are the best!" said one of the kids.

"Can we get your autographs please?! Asked another.

The two mages looked at each other in surprise. They then looked back to the crowd.

"Sure, but first, want to see what the guild hall is like?" Gray asked.

As soon as he asked, the children ran inside. Being unfocused at the time, he was knocked down by the small crowd and suffered feeling of being trampled on. When they were all inside, Vanitas looked at Gray, surprised to see he was taken down so easily. Then again, he did wear himself out a lot from the fight. With all his might, he tried to break the ice he was trapped in. After a few seconds, it shattered; Vanitas stretched his muscles and rolled his shoulders. He helped Gray up and they made their way into the guild, where they saw the children, teachers, and guild members alike talking and enjoying the colossal cake.

"Wow, it there anything Mira can't do?" Vanitas asked.

Gray looked at Vanitas with a surprised face. "How'd you know it was Mira?" he aslo asked.

Vanitas didn't look at him, but responded. "I've got sharp hearing, I heard you talking to her when you checked to see what was going on inside."

"How long were you sitting up there?" the ice mage asked.

Vanitas remained silent. He sat Gray down, got him a slice of cake (Which Gray was thankful for) and walked to the counter to see Mira cleaning a large number of glasses.

"In case you ask, a lot of the glasses, plates and cutlery got messed up in the explosion. I still need to clean them all up." Mira explained.

"I see," Vanitas looked at the large pile of washing-up. He looked back at Mira and asked "You need a hand?"

Mira grinned. "Sure, grab a sponge."

Vanitas hopped over the counter and got to work. He looked around to see how was going on. He saw Natsu perform some small fire tricks that entertained the kids. Elfman was transforming into multiple beast forms, impressing another group of the kids. One of the female members, Cana, a brown-haired woman who used tarot cards, doing card tricks, showing another group how they can help her use an array of different tricks.

Vanitas scanned the room a little bit longer, realising something was off. It soon hit him when he looked back at Mira. "Hey Mira, Where's Lisanna?" he asked.

"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you. She said that she was visiting a friend and wouldn't be able to make it." She said.

When she was finished, Vanitas suddenly felt a small weight in his chest weighing him down. This surprised him. He couldn't explain what was causing this, so he put it at the back of his mind.

"So, any other big events coming up, or is it going to be boring for a while?" he asked.

Mira straightened and then turned to him. "Actually… there is one event coming up. The master told me he wanted you to take part in a certain job during the 24 hour endurance road race coming up next week."

Vanitas was surprised. "Wait, that's next week!? I was hoping to take part in the race."

"Oh you will, it's for after the race." Mira corrected.

Vanitas was sceptical, but after a couple of seconds, he said he would talk to the master about it. He continued to clean when a thought came to mind. " _Lisanna told me she was going to be here today yesterday, no problem; she told me to be ready for a heck of a show. Why did she change her mind so suddenly?"_

However, as if on cue, He felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Lisanna with a large smile on her face.

"I was wondering where you were. I thought you would be putting on a great show for the kids, yet I see you decided to do something else instead." He said.

"Hey, it wasn't an easy sacrifice, but it was worth it. Besides, I think you should be a bit more grateful." Lisanna said. Vanitas raised an eyebrow. Lisanna put her hands into her pockets and pulled out a small box. She grabbed his hand and placed the object in his hand. Vanitas stared at the object and opened it. Inside, was a piece of cubed lacrima.

"I was at a friend's house who specialises with Lacrima. That little piece there has the ability to generate the power of light. It might be handy in case your dark attacks are up against something immune to them." She explained.

Vanitas was wide-eyed with surprise. "Woah… thanks a lot, but… why?" he asked, still a little dumbfounded.

"You saved me from the cloaked figure and got me out of my slump. It's the least I can do. Now, it's time I helped out a bit here, talk to you later." She said. With that, she made her way into the crowd, transforming into a number of different animals to entertain the kids.

Mirajane noticed Vanitas' sudden change in mood after Lisanna came in. "Happy to see her, I see." She stated.

Vanitas shrugged his shoulders before answering. "She was the one who helped me out on my first mission, I guess it's good to see her. Although, it's mainly because I was worried she was still down in the dumps about what happened during the mission."

"What happened on that mission?" Mira asked, now more curious.

"I'd rather let the master tell the group about it first. We may be dealing with something big. But for now-" Vanitas pulled out a bottle of lemonade and poured a glass, which he gave to Mirajane. "-The night is to be enjoyed. We're going to make a big impression on these kindergartens."

"Natsu, stop that!" came Lucy's voice. He turned towards the source of the noise and saw Natsu and Gray (the latter seeming to have recovered quickly) fighting each other. Elfman tried to stop them, but they both punched him into the air. Erza soon stepped in, but the two mages didn't recognise her. This resulted in them punching her square in the face. It didn't launch her into the air, but resulted in her looking like she was about to kill them. This caused the two mages to panic.

"I was right Vanitas, she is going to kill me!" Natsu whispered.

It was quiet, but Vanitas heard him loud and clear. He and Mira simultaneously sighed, knowing that this was the beginning of yet another set of bad press for Sorcerer Weekly will, no doubt, get their hands on.

" _Well, at least we tried."_ He thought.

He turned to Mira and asked "So, what's this about a job during the race?!

…

"Man, this is getting boring!" said a man in a black coat.

He was sitting one of the apartment buildings in Magnolia, observing the Fairy Tail building.

"I have to say, when that runt was able to get out into the open, I thought he'd be interested in causing trouble, like in the old days. But no, he's more interested in being the nice little boy who likes helping people.

He stood up onto his feet. "I guess Xehanort didn't try hard enough. Even that pain in backside cloak psycho wasn't enough to bring him back. I knew he couldn't control the darkness."

He clicked his fingers; a black and purple mass appeared right in front of him. He took a moment to take off his hood, revealing a man in his late thirties, long black and grey hair tied back into a pony tail, he also wore a black eye patch and a couple of scars on his face.

"Don't think you can just walk away from this you little freak." He said, contempt present in his voice. He then walked through the black mass, disappearing, along with the mass, or portal as it seemed, a second later.

 **[Author's note: I hope you found this chapter enjoyable. I don't know if there would be many who would agree with me, but I found the filler episodes in the anime for Fairy Tail to be fairly enjoyable. I was interested to see the number of events that would be going on, so I thought it would be good to include one or two into the story. Anyway, other than that, it seems while Vanitas is through with his past, his past isn't quite through with him yet. What will happen? Keep reading to find out.]**

 **[Don't forget to review.]**


	6. Vanitas vs Demyx

Usually on a weekend, in the city of magnolia, it would be an incredibly lovely day. The sun would be shining, birds would be singing and both children and adults would be outside, enjoying themselves. It would usually be a great day for the shop owners with the amount of people with jewel burning holes in their pockets. However, today was not one of those days.

Today there was so much rain falling from the sky, it could fill a reservoir to the point of being able to supply water to a whole city. No one in the town could explain why.

Lucy was staring outside from her apartment, curious and worried about what was going on. " _What's going on? This is just too weird."_ She thought to herself. She was sitting in a chair doing some writing early in the morning. Thirty minutes after writer's block kicked in, a torrential rainfall came down from the sky. She took some time to look at the weather, amazed that such a change in the weather happening so quickly.

" _Is Juvia back in town already? No, she already told she was going to be away for another two weeks she should still be in that village for another week."_ she thought again. She stood up from her chair and went to her kitchen. She put on a pot of tea and left it to brew. Before she had the chance to sit back down, she heard a knock on door. Strolling over, she opened the door to find the dark Keyblade wielder standing outside.

"Morning Neighbour." Lucy said gleefully. "How's life in your new home?"

Vanitas smirked. "Can't complain. The land lady's a little strict though. She wouldn't let me touch a thing until we finalised the purchase."

"Sounds like her." Lucy said back. Something soon came to mind. "Hey, are you still working at that "History of Magic" museum down town?" she asked.

"Yeah, they were pleased with the work I was doing and asked if I could stay with them for a little bit more. I said I'd stay on for another week, in exchange for a chance to learn a couple of the old spells they got hidden there." Vanitas said.

"WHAT, SERIOUSLY!?" Lucy exclaimed. There were a number of old, forbidden forms of magic that were stored there. There was no way that they would just give up those spells like that.

"I'm kidding. Although the fact that there may be forbidden spells and stuff like that is part of the reason I'm working there." Vanitas said, creating a look of confusion on Lucy's face.

"The guy that hired me, a retired knight whose son is a mage, informed me that said son discovered the people running the museum has been trying to locate lost or forbidden magic source and are planning to sell it off. Me working as their new tour guide gives me access to a number of their facilities. Plus, I get to sound like an extremely smart guy at the same time."

Lucy shook her head. "Well, that sound better than the time I had to dress as a maid to get into a house." Her expression changed slightly, a hint of sadness and a tear showing. "He said I was ugly, while the maids he had were the definition of the word." She said, her voice wobbling a little bit.

Vanitas stepped in and placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a nod.

"Come on, Lucy, we all know you're one of the prettiest girls around." He said confidently.

"Lucy, that was nine years ago, get over it!" came a voice from behind them.

Vanitas and Lucy both froze. The looked at the sitting area of the room and saw a familiar blue cat sitting on her coffee table.

"Well, it was two for us, but, you know, it's in the past, live and let live move on." Happy continued. Before he could say anymore, Lucy grabbed him by the head and threw him on to her bed. She was quickly losing her temper.

"WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING HERE! AGAIN!" Lucy roared. This caused Vanitas to jump. He heard Lucy's rage mode from another room before, but being right next to her when she was expressing her anger was a new experience.

Vanitas suddenly realised something. "Guys? As in plural?" he asked.

Lucy turned back to him. "Yeah, he and Natsu always come here together." She explained. She turned back to Happy. "Now, where is he?" she asked, her anger growing steadily.

"I don't know, he rushed ahead of me. Maybe he's here now." Happy suggested.

Vanitas looked around the apartment with a quick swivel of his head, unable to see the pink-haired pyromancer. "Don't see him here. Do you think he got caught up with something?" Vanitas also suggested.

Lucy sat down on the bed beside Happy. "Well, at least I've time to get out of here before he invades my privacy again." She said. She moved slightly, noticing her bed wasn't very comfortable. It was surprisingly lumpy. Suddenly, she thought of the worst case scenario. She stood up, flung the covers off (causing Happy to fly off and Vanitas to catch him before he hit the ground) and saw Natsu fast asleep in her bed. Lucy was silent for a brief moment before screaming in embarrassment.

Vanitas and Happy looked at each other for a brief moment. Vanitas was at a loss for words while Happy was close to bursting with laughter.

"Um… I should probably leave." He said, letting Happy jump from his arms. Before he could step out the door, Natsu spoke up.

"Don't leave man, it's you we're here to talk to." Natsu said.

"THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU GO BOTHER HIM!?" Lucy roared again.

"His place is locked up tight, we couldn't get in even if we wanted to." Natsu answered.

"Besides, we always come here. It wouldn't be good to break tradition, would it?" Happy continued.

"TRADITION!?" Lucy was starting to turn scarlet from the embarrassment and the anger of yet another one of Natsu's intrusion.

"I'm not going to ask." Vanitas stated. "Changing the topic, let's head to my apartment and talk there. You want to come too Lucy?"

"No thanks, I need to fumigate the apartment." Lucy answered.

"That's not very nice, you know." Happy pointed out.

NEITHER IS BREAKING AND ENTERING!" Lucy exclaimed.

…..

"Don't tell me you guys do that all the time. You need to ask permission before going in there." Vanitas said. He, Natsu and Happy were in his flat now. It was small but comfortable. When entering the flat, there was a small hallway, on the immediate right coming in was the bathroom, continuing on there were two bedrooms, one with a single bed, the other (the guest room) had a double bed. There was a door to the living room that was also right next to the Kitchen. Vanitas was sitting in a recliner chair while Natsu and Happy were relaxing on the couch.

"What do you want us to do, wait outside in the hallway?" asked Natsu.

"You could just wait for her at the guild hall." Vanitas suggested.

"She'd think we wouldn't want to hang out with her anymore if we did that." Happy stated.

Vanitas shook his head slightly, finding it difficult to believe he is having to discuss this with them.

"Alright, fine never mind. What was it you want to talk to me about?" he asked.

Natsu gave him a small smile. "We heard about your mission in the museum. We had a friend of ours do some digging and we think we know what kind of magic is in there."

"A lot of it is magic formed into Lacrima. If anyone was to absorb it, it would grant them the magic that formed the Lacrima. Let's say someone condensed Natsu's Dragonslayer magic into Lacrima, they could absorb it and use its power to the fullest potential that the previous wizard unlocked."

Vanitas became incredibly serious. "What kind of magic is it then?" he asked.

"We think it could be a type of elemental magic. This can help us." Happy said, causing Vanitas to raise an eyebrow.

"I've been up against a whole load of elemental wizards, I can recognise the different scents of the magic. You let me in there, I'll track it down in a second." Natsu explained.

"Is there anything you can't smell?" the dark warrior asked.

Natsu froze, a memory of some of the worst smells he had ever come across. "I sure hope so." He said.

Vanitas took in a deep breath and sighed. Shortly after, he said. "Alright, I'll try to get you in. But on one condition." He stated, getting small nods from the two.

"You guys have to do whatever I say, followed by the letter. If you guys mess up, you're gone." Vanitas stated.

Natsu and Happy were surprised by this form of attitude from him. "What's with the third degree? You're usually calmer than this." Came Happy.

"If what you say is true, we can't risk anyone knowing about our plan, just as much as we can't let the public know about the Lacrima. Knowing you two, while I don't really mind it, you'd just burst in and cause chaos and blow our cover. Remember, stealth is key. Understand?"

They both nodded again.

"Good, now follow me."

"Why? What's going on?" Natsu asked.

Vanitas gave them both a mischievous smile. "It's time to get your uniforms for the job."

….

With the torrential rainfall hitting the city hard, every business was shut down except for the museum near the centre of the city. This makes it the perfect opportunity for one to intercept someone who may have been on there way there. Fortunately, since the figure in the black coat knew who he was after, and when he would be going there, it would be a simple task to apprehend him.

The owner of the museum was reluctant to hire the target, since he was a member of the town's mage guild and could uncover what he was up to. However, the coated figure had… persuaded him to reconsider, allowing the target to be hired.

However, the coated figure didn't want to do any of this.

" _Aww man, I told him that I wasn't the right guy for the job. This guy could probably kick my butt if I got too close. Why couldn't he have gotten-"_ his train of thought was interrupted when he heard the sound of water being splashed. He was sitting on top of a rooftop so as to observe the city more efficiently. He looked around and saw his target, along with a pink-haired boy and a cat.

" _Vanitas, huh? He doesn't look anything like he described. Well, time to get this over with."_ He thought.

He stood up straight and jumped to the next building, keeping an eye on the target.

…..

"Why did we have to run in the rain, I'm going to die of a cold if we keep this up." Natsu complained.

"Well, I didn't think it would be good if we got a magic mobile either." Vanitas replied. This caused Natsu to recall his many moments of travelling on a vehicle. His motion sickness being the greatest torture he could've ever endured.

They were now inside the museum. It was mainly made up of white marble, it had multiple floors, and on every floor there was a glass case which contained a piece of history, whether it would be a weapon or a scroll, anything to do with magic was sound in those cases.

"Okay, so, when do we get to work?" Natsu asked.

"You start straight away!" came a voice above them.

The trio looked above and saw a short, fat man with a bald head and a large, grey moustache. He wore a white tuxedo with a white top hat and carried a cane with gold covering the top and bottom. Vanitas could tell from the disdainful look he was giving them that he wasn't a very nice person.

"Charcoal head, you get to your tour station. Pinky, you get to work, there's a bucket of water and a mop waiting for you in the back room, now get to work." He said. "And throw that cat out, we don't allow animals in here."

Natsu was trying hard to keep his anger in, Happy was doing the same. Vanitas, however, kept a cool poker face. He nodded in response and made his way towards the designated zone. Natsu slowly made his way over to the area while Happy, as angry as he was, willingly made his way out of the building.

Happy was left standing out in the rain. He wasn't going to leave in case Natsu and Vanitas needed him. However, given that he was left to suffer in the elements, he was quite miserable.

"Uh, I really wish I had a fish right about now." He said to himself.

A couple of seconds after, he felt something off about the area. He looked around, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. He was about to go back to brooding when, out of the blue, a large shadow loomed over him. Fearing the worst, he slowly turned to find a figure in a black coat.

Happy was terrified. Vanitas told them he experienced a dream when he was reforming his power. One of the opponents was a figure in a black coat that was on par with Vanitas' power at the time. If he was that powerful…

"Um, hi. Please don't hurt me." Happy said.

The figure stood silently for a moment. He then raised his hand and touched his hood. He then pulled back the hood, revealing a head of blond hair that was sticking high up, with a couple of strands hanging at either side of his head, as well as having light blue eyes. He seemed a bit nervous, unsure to be more precise, about what he should be doing.

"Huh, why would I hurt you? I'm just here to visit that museum." Said the blond haired man.

Happy was confused. "Uh, well, okay. Hey, do you have a fish on you? Or a raincoat at least?"

The blond-haired man pulled out a small raincoat that looked like it would fit a small child. "I got this on sale in another area, the sales guy got the better of me. As for the fish, sorry pal, don't have one. Here's a candy bar, though." He said, handing Happy the bar and coat.

"Wow, thanks mister. Sorry for acting weird earlier. I heard guys who wear the same coat as the one you're wearing can be trouble." Happy admitted.

The blond haired man was silent for a moment. "You're not wrong…" he said. The then said "Be sure to stay out of the museum for a while, it's going to be messy."

This caught Happy's attention. "Wait, wha-" he started. He was walking towards the man when he felt his face press up against something. He stepped back from it and saw it was the same pink barrier that was used during Gray and Vanitas' fight.

"Who are you?" Happy asked, bewildered by what he saw.

The man looked back at Happy with an apologetic look on his face. "The name's Demyx. Be sure to keep your distance." He said before continuing into the museum.

Happy was soon bashing his paws against the barrier, panic starting to overtake him as was soon screaming.

"NATSU! VANITAS!"

….

"Now where is that dang Lacrima" Natsu muttered to himself. After dressing up as a janitor, he got to work with looking around for any hidden rooms. His nose caught on to the scent of something unusual as he reached the second floor. He had been following it for ten minutes. He didn't come across anything worthy of investigating, not a window, door or secret passage where the material in question could've been hidden.

He was nearly about to give up and move to the next floor when his nose picked up on another scent, mixing in with the original. He wasn't sure what it was, but he decided to follow up on it all the same. He rushed to the location and found, surprise, surprise, the door to the owner's office. He made sure there was no one around and used his flames to melt the lock off. He opened the door and found an extremely tidy office, not a hair was out of place.

" _Man this guy's more uptight than Lucy, and that's saying something._ " Natsu thought.

He went to the main desk and, using a lock pick he got from Max, the guild's souvenir shop manager and sand mage, and popped open the drawers. A thought suddenly occurred to him.

" _Should I have used that to open the door?"_ he thought. He shrugged it off and began sniffing inside the drawers. The familiar scent was coming off a magazine that had a picture of a speedboat on it. Natsu opened it and flicked through the pages. He came across a smaller magazine that had a picture of a katana on it. He opened the first page and, much to his misfortune, the picture he saw made his eyes feel like they were dipped in acid. He placed that magazine back in the other and put it all back in the drawer.

" _What kind of sick person would look at that stuff?"_ he thought, the image still eroding his peace of mind. He went up to one of the walls and banged his head against it as hard as he could. When he stepped away from the wall, he was disappointed that the image was still in his mind, but saw something from within the cracks. He pulled off some of the debris and saw that it was a safe. Not wanting to waste time, he used his flames to melt off the door and smiled when he saw what was in it.

"Jackpot!" he said silently. He reached his hand in and pulled out a piece of Lacrima. It was shaped like a small flame, it had a black outline and the interior was glowing red-orange. It was radiating strong and… surprisingly familiar magic.

"What is this thing?" Natsu asked himself.

"My property." Came a voice from behind.

Natsu ignited his free hand and turned to see the museum owner. He was radiating a strong level of magic energy, the negative type that went well with his attitude and, currently, sour looking face.

"So, you planning on selling this to the highest bidder, try and make a bit of cash from selling powerful magic to nut-jobs?" Natsu asked with a smile on his face.

"My, I didn't think would mind, especially since your guild is just a building of uncivilised lunatics." He responded.

Natsu felt his innards boil. He didn't like to be insulted, but it was extremely enraging when people would say mean things about his friends.

"You've got a big mouth, buddy. You're going to regret letting us in here to begin with." Natsu growled.

"Oh, I never wanted to let either of you in. Fairy Tail mages would've certainly caused me too much trouble. The other boy did an excellent job in covering his tracks, I will admit, but it still wasn't enough to fool me. I would've kicked him out if he didn't threaten me to let him work here." The owner explained.

Natsu was now curious. "Who threatened you?"

"The man in the black coat." The owner answered.

Natsu quickly froze. He remembered Vanitas talking about the dream that helped to reform his powers, and how one of the opponents was a guy in a black coat. If he was something that could've affected Vanitas…

"Where is he now?" Natsu asked, trying his best to keep his cool.

"I would say he is currently attempting to assassinate your friend. I do hope he keeps it clean, it would be terribly expensive to clean up that mess." The owner said with an uncaring tone.

The temperature in the room started to increase at a steady pace. The owner undid his collar, hoping to cool himself off. He wasn't sure what was going on, until he saw Natsu glow red and orange. His eyes were glowing, his eyes were golden and the whites were now red.

"You're full of yourself, you know that?" Natsu asked him.

"We'll, I am certain that a filthy lunatic like you wouldn't stand a chance against me." The owner answered, wisps of shadows starting to build up around him.

With that, Natsu rushed towards him with miraculous speed, aiming his flaming fist at the owner's head.

….

Vanitas stood as his designated area, feeling as if time was actually starting to slow own. He was hoping Natsu would've found the Lacrima and found him to let him know. He sighed. He thought a couple of times that Natsu's intel was mistaken. However, if there was one thing he knew about Natsu, despite his destructive tendencies, he was always keen on getting the job done correctly, which meant he would've made sure the information was correct.

He looked outside and saw that the rain was still the same as it was earlier.

" _Why bother to keep this place open if no one's coming? The idiot."_ Vanitas thought, the impatience starting to get to him.

"Hey, you okay there?" came a voice from behind him. Vanitas turned to see a man with blond hair that was gelled up, light blue eyes and he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, swimming trunks and sandals.

"Uh, yeah, just getting a little sleepy here with the lack of activity here." Vanitas held out his hand. "Nice to meet you. The name's Vanitas. You?"

The other man smiled. He held out his own hand they shook. "I'm Demyx, nice to meet you too. Say, are you a tour guide?" he asked.

"Yeah. Do you want to ask anything about this place, actually? I'm happy to help in any way I can." Vanitas said.

"Wow, thanks." Demyx said.

Vanitas raised his hand in protest before saying "No, need, it's my job."

Demyx smiled before saying "Okay, I've got two questions, actually." He raised his and up and pointed his index finger in the air. "I heard that there was a mage who achieved immortality, he was some kind of dark wizard, right."

Vanitas smiled. "You got that right. His name was Zeref, the "Black Wizard", to be precise, because he was a master of the dark arts and black magic. His studies into these things, primarily because he was trying to resurrect his brother who was killed in a dragon attack, resulted in him being cursed with some kind of contradiction curse. If he appreciated life, his power would take it away. If he was void of caring for life at all, he would have perfect control over his power. They say he kept contradicting himself; he'd say one thing, then another, etc. Luckily, about a year ago, he was finally defeated."

Demyx was impressed with the story. "No wonder you're the tour guide, your pretty good."

"Thanks." Vanitas replied.

Demyx took in a deep breath. "And now, my second question… How's Xehanort doing these days?"

Vanitas immediately summoned the Oblivion and held it up to Demyx's throat.

"Who… are you? How do you know Xehanort?" He asked. His voice becoming a dark growl.

"I kind of worked for him a while back. Now I kind of… have to do one more job. I'm sorry, but I have to do this." Demyx said, a strong level of sincerity in his voice. Before Vanitas could react, he was hit from underneath with a pillar of water. Vanitas soon felt another blast of water hit him square in the face, causing him to spin backwards and hit the ground with incredible force, leaving a crater.

Demyx stared at where Vanitas has landed. "Why did it have to be me?" he asked himself. He turned around and was making his way toward the exit when he heard a soft chuckle. Demyx wasn't sure what he heard, he turned back and he saw, once the dust had settled, that Vanitas was gone. He turned back to see the Keyblade wielder directly in front of him.

He did not look happy.

"You regret getting hired to kill me… you're going to wish you were never born when I'm done with you…"

Vanitas clicked his fingers and his Keyblade appeared. He switched his grip and held the weapon in a reverse grip. He thrusted the bottom of the weapon up to Demyx's jaw, hitting him with full force and sending him flying. Vanitas took the opportunity, jumping up into the air after him, letting him land his feet onto Demyx's face and, with all his force, to push Demyx back into the ground. As Vanitas was rocketed further into the air from the force, he repositioned himself and his feet hit the ceiling. He cloaked the Keyblade in darkness and rocketed back towards Demyx. He aimed the tip of the weapon at Demyx's head and would've hit home had the attack not been blocked. Vanitas teleported about fifteen feet away from his opponent and held up his weapon in is regular battle stance.

Demyx got back up from the ground and revealed that what he used to block the last attack was a sitar, a type of string based musical instrument.

"Well, I guess I've got no choice now, do I?" Demyx asked.

"Your best choice would've been to not get involved with Xehanort. Now, you ready to end this?"

Demyx was silent for a moment. He then readied the sitar, holding it like a rock star would hold a guitar.

"It's show time!" Demyx said.

Vanitas smirked at his opponent's new found confidence. He teleported behind him and swung the Keyblade at his head. Demyx responded ducking and thrusting the bottom of his weapon upwards towards his jaw. Vanitas tilted backwards, avoiding the attack. He let himself fall a bit more, putting one arm behind him and performing a backward tumble, letting himself perform a couple of more. When he was finished, he jumped into the air and coated the Keyblade in dark energy and spun the weapon in his hand as quickly as possible. With the weapon a blur, he launched himself toward Demyx, an aura of dark energy forming like a spear head point.

"DARK SPIRAL!" Vanitas yelled as he performed the attack. Demyx held up his sitar in defence again, but the attack was much stronger this time, causing the water user to be fired backwards. However, he wasn't giving up easily. He recovered himself mid-air and launched himself forward, spending a long row of water pillars Vanitas' way. Vanitas side stepped to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack.

When both were on the ground again, Demyx summoned a high number of water spheres and sent them Vanitas' way. Vanitas was as still as a statue as they went towards him. They struck him with full force, but Vanitas remained unaffected. Demyx was shocked by this.

"Scared?" came Vanitas' voice.

Demyx looked back and saw Vanitas standing a short distance behind him. He rushed forward and launched himself into the air, spinning in the air as Demyx kept his eyes on him. Vanitas suddenly teleported out of site. Vanitas reappeared directly behind him, charging his free hand with dark energy and palm-stiking him in the centre of his back, causing Demyx to scream in pain and buckle to his knees. Vanitas stepped back, observing his opponent. Demyx was looking terrified, he stood back up, jumped backwards and started playing the sitar.

"Dance, water, DANCE!" Demyx said.

As soon as he finished speaking, water started emerging from the ground. They all took the form of Demyx, moving towards Vanitas and circling him. They soon changed shape and turned into musical notes. The notes them started attacking Vanitas, swinging the bottoms with high Velocity. However, Vanitas was able to catch up. When one attacked, Vanitas struck with the tip of his weapon. One by one they fell, until there was only one left. Vanitas smirked when an idea came to mind. He rushed towards the note and managed to grab it. He the rushed towards Demyx, who was now absorbed in his music, and swung the note with full force, striking with full force and speed, not giving Demyx the chance to even register what happened as Vanitas was beating the stuffing out of him. Vanitas, with a bit more force than with the previous attacks, swung the note behind him and then threw it back like a boomerang. The note quickly wrapped itself around Demyx, allowing Vanitas to perform one final attack. Vanitas jumped into the air, building up a dark aura around him, then flew around Demyx with incredible speed, encasing the water user in crystal. Vanitas then readied himself and thrusted himself toward Demyx and yelled "LAST WORD!"

When Vanitas passed throught the crystal, it shattered, crushing all the energy Demyx had left in his system. As he collapsed, Vanitas dematerialised his weapon and turned to Demyx.

"Care for an Encore?" Vanitas asked.

Demyx was silent for a moment before saying "I'm… so sorry."

Vanitas was taken back by this. Demyx lifted his head up, turning to Vanitas. Demyx had tears welling up in his eyes.

"Xehanort… he had… people I cared about. He said… He would hurt them if… if I didn't do what he said. Please… please forgive me." Demyx said, allowing full honesty to enter his voice, filled with regret.

Vanitas could tell he was telling the truth. He took in a deep breath before responding. "I see. This wouldn't be the first time he did this. Do you know where they are? I'll get them out, I will save them."

Vanitas went up to him and slung one of Demyx's arms over his shoulders. He walked Demyx over to a nearby chair that wasn't destroyed in the fight. Demyx was surprised by this kindness. He held back the tears, but the gratitude could be seen plain as day.

"Th-thank you." He said. Vanitas nodded in response with a smile on his face. Vanitas could remember when Xehanort had him kidnap people to use as hostages. This could be a form of redemption for him.

However, a sharp sound, like a laser being fired from a blaster in a sci-fi movie, came out of nowhere, and a beam of red light could be seen flying behind Demyx, penetrating the centre of his chest. The look of happiness was replace by a look of shock and pain. A second later, his eyes rolled back to the back of his head, and he began to fade away in a dark cloud. Vanitas was unable to move, as the projectile going through was a shock to his system. By the time Vanitas regained his senses, Demyx had completely faced away. Vanitas looked around him and saw a figure in a black coat with an arrow-gun in each hand sitting on a piece of debris

"You… why did you do that?" Vanitas asked, his voice trembling with anger and shock."

"The idiot was supposed to do one job, bring you in, and he even messed that up. He doesn't even deserve to be around if he's going to waste our time like that." He answered.

Vanitas was trembling with anger now. His eyes slowly changed from blue to scarlet red, his anger also building up a pure black aura around him. "So… you want to try it then?" he asked.

The figure stood up and turned. "Nah, you're too tired out. If I'm bringing you in, I want to fight you with all your strength. Although, I have to say, you're getting stronger. I can't wait to kick your butt." The figure answered. He then covered himself in a dark aura and then soon vanished.

Vanitas stood silently, his anger rising the more he thought about what had just happened. Had he not been snapped out of his daze by a voice screaming, he would've been swallowed by it.

"Vanitas!" yelled Happy. The cat flew into Vanitas, crashing into him but not so much that it would cause Vanitas to stumble backwards.

"I'm sorry Vanitas, I tried to get to you, but that Demyx guy made some kind of barrier, I couldn't get to you or Natsu! Are you guys okay?" Happy said.

Vanitas didn't respond, still remaining silent.

"Vanitas, are you okay? Where is Natsu?" Happy asked again.

This time, Vanitas responded, raising his head up quickly and yelling "Natsu!"

As if to respond to this, something went through the walls like a missile, creating more debris. When the dust settled, they saw that it was the museum owner. He was completely covered in cuts, bruises and burn scars.

"Awwww yeeeeaah!" Came Natsu's voice. Happy and Vanitas turned to see Natsu in full spirits on the floor above them, with a piece of Lacrima in hand.

"That's what you get for making fun of Fairy Tail you snobby punk. You got anything else to say? Huh?"

The owner groaned in response. Natsu laughed manically, then jumping to the ground floor. He walked over to Happy and Vanitas in full spirits.

"This is great, we got some super cool Lacrimised magic and took down a bad guy at the same time. How'd you do Vanitas, I could hear you fighting from where I was." Natsu said.

Vanitas was silent for a second before responding. "I… I was fighting against a guy who was threatened to fight me. When I won, the guy who threatened him… he killed him."

Happy and Natsu both widened their eyes in response.

"I told him I could help him… I gave him hope… he took that away from him… I couldn't save him." Vanitas continued. He balled his hands into fists. He then raised his head high into the sky and roared at the top of his lungs, rage, fury and sadness fuelling the roar. When he was finished, he stood up and summoned his Keyblade. He stared at it as he spoke.

"That guy… I recognised his voice… Xehanort's lackey. Demyx, I made you a promise. I will help the people he threatened to hurt. I will protect them. And I will beat them." He said, He dematerialised his weapon and walked out of the building.

"Woah…" Natsu said.

However, before Vanitas could get too far away from the museum, he heard Happy screaming. He turned to see a flash of white light appearing where Demyx was standing. He rushed back and saw, as the light faded, Demyx, now wearing a simple blue shirt, jeans, running shoes and a pair of sunglasses with the lenses shaped like stars.

The figure that looked like Demyx slowly got up. He placed a hand on his chest, staying in that position for a while and then, surprisingly, yelled with excitement.

"Yes, I'm a somebody again!" he said. He looked behind him and saw Vanitas. He gave him a grin. "Hey, are you okay? Sorry for the scare."

Vanitas was filled with pure shock at what he had just seen. "What.. what am I seeing? I saw you die just now!" Vanitas said.

"Well, not exactly. You destroyed my Nobody, and since it looks like my heartless was destroyed, I became whole again!" Demyx explained.

Vanitas was still in the dark about what Demyx was trying to say. Demyx noticed this.

"Have you ever heard of heartless and Nobodies before?" he asked. Vanitas shook his head.

Demyx chuckled. "Pull up a chair, because I've got a great tale to tell." He said. He was about to speak when Vanitas raised his hand.

"While I'm glad you're okay, I'd rather bring you back to the guild to tell my master as well." Vanitas said.

"Okay, but can I say just one thing?" Demyx asked. Vanitas nodded.

"It turns out that Xehanort's trying to make this thing called the "X-Blade".

Vanitas froze. The moment Demyx mentioned the name of the dreaded weapon filled Vanitas with more fear than anger. He turned back to Demyx and pointed in the direction of the guild hall.

"Guild hall… now…" Vanitas said.

 **[And that's that for this chapter. I hope it was entertaining anyone reading, i thought i would be interesting to see Demyx trying to hold his own against Vanitas. Anyway, in case anyone gets curious about that piece of lacrima, it's actually going to be an important part of the story in future chapters. I'll let you guess as to how it's going to be done. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this one. If you enjoued it (or didn't) please feel free to leave a review. See you later.]**


	7. A normal day

To say that Makarov was concerned was like saying Natsu's attacks did as much damage as tap to the head with a finger. After the fight with Demyx, who had been somehow brought back in an instant, Vanitas brought him back to the guild for questioning. Vanitas thought it would be best to let Makarov know of what was going on as well, as he might have answers on how to proceed.

When they all arrived, they were surprised to see Demyx, who looked a bit like an old-fashioned boy band member. They were all making jokes at first, quite amazed to see Vanitas hanging out with someone so eccentric. However, they were quickly silenced when they saw the serious look on Vanitas' face and the looks of concern on Natsu and Happy's face. They soon understood that whatever what was going was no laughing matter.

A number of the members asked if he was okay, to which Vanitas gave them a weak smile and apologetic smiles, apologising if he was causing problems and would explain what was going on later. With that, they went up to Makarov, who was reading sorcerer's weekly. As the group entered the room, he was laughing at how the members had upset the school teachers when the kindergarten's came to visit, even though the kids were happy all the same. He saw Demyx and asked to be introduced. After a quick introduction, Demyx got to work on his explanations.

He told them about the Heartless, creatures of pure darkness being made of hearts that have fallen to darkness. Either naturally exist in the Realm of Darkness, or people can turn into them if they give in to the darkness of their own hearts. They were all over the worlds, as Xehanort had ensured the creation of a new breed of them, the "Emblem Heartless" that wore the symbol of the Heartless. The "Pureblood" heartless were those that didn't bear the emblem but were mainly shrouded in dark colours.

He went on to explain that when a strong hearted person turned into a Heartless, their souls would take control of their now hollow bodies. Beings without hearts called "Nobodies", hence called because they were never meant to exist, nor is it certain if they really exist as they were basically living ghosts. They came in the shape of a variety of creatures, all of whom still retained their intelligence, unlike the heartless, who were beings made up of corrupt hearts and only had their instincts to guide them. He also said that the toughest of the tough would retain their human form if they turned into Heartless. They would be gifted with incredible power as a result, which they can keep if they returned back into human form.

A while ago, Xehanort had gathered thirteen of these special Nobodies, wanting to gather up hearts into an artificial Kingdom Hearts using their thirteenth member, another Keyblade wielder, to collect hearts. Said Keyblade wielder returned to his somebody (the person he was before) and that person was able to take down the organisation.

"After that, I'd have imagined that it would've been over. But he somehow came back, and he's trying to make a new Organization XIII, which he wants to use for its original purpose, to use them as pieces to make the most powerful Keyblade of all, the "X-Blade", the very counterpart of the true Kingdom Hearts.

"Hold on!" Natsu interrupted. He had decided to stick around because of his interest, despite Happy leaving out of respect for their privacy. Vanitas and Makarov didn't really mind, just as long as they could get the information they were looking for.

"If this guy wiped you all out, how come you were still around to fight Vanitas?" the pyromancer asked.

"My Heartless wasn't destroyed yet, so Xehanort was able to bring back my Nobody. My Heartless must have been destroyed between that time and now, because I've become a somebody again." Demyx explained to Natsu.

Vanitas was silent for a moment before asking 2When you saw Xehanort's nobody, did he look old and bald or was he in his thirties and had hair kind of shaped like horns?"

Demyx was slightly perplexed. "Uh, the latter. Why?" he asked.

"The former form wanted to corrupt another Keyblade wielder to the point that he could use him as a new, stronger vessel. He seemed to have succeeded. If that's the case, it means they must still have that power on their side. Xehanort wouldn't give up anything that would give him an edge.

"Ahhh!" Demyx said. "That explains the old dude who was standing next to Xemnas when I was brought back!"

"Xemnas?" Makarov asked.

"The name of the younger guy's Nobody." Demyx explained.

Everyone was quiet for a moment. Natsu took it upon himself to break the silence. "So… what happens now?"

"Well, I bet that they're going to keep sending member after member until they defeat you or until you defeat them. Though with what I've seen, you're going to tear them to shreds." Demyx answered.

"I second that!" Natsu said.

Makarov then raised his hand. "I need to ask you all a favour." He said. They all nodded in agreement. "I want you all to stay silent about this. Everyone is having enough problems without having this on their shoulders as well. If it's necessary, I will allow it, but for now, please don't mention anything about it." They all nodded again.

Demyx sighed and said "Well, that certainly won't be a problem with me. I won't be here to tell them."

This caught the other three's attention.

"Vanitas, I have to say, when we fought, you really gave it your all. I was able to hold my own against you. With my heart back now, I've got a little more strength now. If I train hard enough, I'll be able to help my friends."

Vanitas remembered what he said back at the museum. "So, you're going at it alone, are you?" he asked.

Demyx nodded. "For as long as I can remember, I've been afraid of getting into any form of conflict. But you showed me that I'm stronger than I though. You showed me that if you strive hard enough, you can win out. It's time I stopped acting like a coward and actually did something about it."

Demyx was about to say something else when Vanitas held up his hand. "If this is a very long thank you for giving you the confidence you always wanted, then you're welcome. I've got a weakness for long speeches myself, but I don't always have the patience to listen to them." Vanitas said.

Demyx nodded. "Alright. Well, it's time I got going." He clicked his fingers and opened up a dark portal.

"See you around Demyx." Vanitas said casually with a small wave.

Demyx turned back and smirked. "You can call be Demy. Demyx was my Nobody's name." he said, before walking through the portal and vanishing, the portal following suit quickly after.

About five seconds later, Natsu spoke up again. "Oh, by the way-" Natsu started before zooming out of the room, coming back just as quickly with the museum owner bound with a lot of rope. "What are we going to do with this guy?" He finished.

Vanitas stared at him. "What's your deal with this… Organization XIII?" he asked.

The museum owner trembled where he was, as Vanitas was giving him a cold and steely glare. "They… they promised me power. They gave me control over darkness and said… in exchange, I was going to have to kidnap a list of people for them." He answered.

Vanitas was silent for a moment. Then, something clicked. "If the "X-Blade" is the counterpart of Kingdom Hearts, id imagine it'd be made of Light and Darkness. If Xehanort's gathering darkness'-"

"He's after pieces made of light." Makarov finished.

Vanitas laid back in his chair and said "Well, there isn't much we can do until they make another move, so I say we just live life as normal until they make another appearance. Until then, Natsu… burgers or hotdogs?"

Natsu rushed out of the room yelling Hot Dogs, which answered his question. He stood up laughing and made his way out of the room. Before he went through the door, he said "Mater… two things. One, we will beat these guys. No matter what these guys will throw at us, I will make sure they won't hurt anyone. I'll do what I have to do to keep them safe." Makarov was thankful to hear that and let out a small sigh of relief.

"Secondly, I noticed you can get pretty hooked on that magazine for some reason. And if I find that it's for the reason I think it is… I won't show any mercy." Vanitas soon said, which caused Makarov to sweat uncontrollably.

"Vanitas, I, uh, I've no idea what you're talking about." Makarov said unconvincingly.

Vanitas' eyes narrowed as his glare intensified. He decided to let the matter drop and left the room. Makarov went back to reading the magazine. He was about to turn a page when Vanitas' words rang in his head, and skipped the pages he was planning on reading… or rather, staring."

" _Wow, he can be scarier than Erza!_ " he thought with surprise.

….

Vanitas took the liberty of returning to the person who gave him the job and informed him that the owner of the museum was stopped, and all the magic he was planning on selling was recovered. The employer was relieved and paid Vanitas what he owed.

Vanitas returned to his apartment and decided to read the newspaper, curious to see if there was anything going on that he wasn't aware of. While the rain had stopped and it was now nice and sunny, Vanitas decided to wait until the outside was a bit more dry. He was halfway through his first article when he heard a knock on the door. He got up, threw the paper on one of the seats and opened the door. Standing outside was one of the gunslingers of Fairy Tail, Alzack. His specialty was using enchanted bullets, each one having a very useful effect. He had black hair that stood up into spikes, earrings and wore a poncho, a red top underneath, trousers and regular brown shoes.

"Hey, Alzack, right? Everything alright?" Vanitas asked.

"Yeah, everything's great. I was just wondering if you could do me a favour." Alzack replied.

Vanitas grinned. "Sure, what can I do?"

Alzack stepped to one side and, much to Vanitas' surprise, a little girl with long, black hair, dark eyes and was wearing a cowgirl outfit.

"This is my daughter, Asuka. Say hi pumpkin."

"Hi Mr. Vanitas!" Asuka said, glee present in her voice.

Vanitas smiled. "Hi Asuka, it's nice to meet you."

"Likewise." She replied.

Alzack was starting to look nervous. Vanitas, however realised what he was going to ask. "Are you going to ask if I can watch Asuka?" Vanitas asked.

Alzack gave him a nod of defeat. "Yeah. I would normally ask the guild to keep an eye on her, but they're pretty preparing for the fantasia parade."

Vanitas quickly became confused. "Fantasia parade?"

Asuka took the Liberty of explaining what it was. "It's this big parade that the Fairy Tail guild performs during the harvest festival. It's full of amazing special effects, cool shows, happy people and all that stuff!"

"Wow. I didn't know about that. I'm surprised I haven't heard about it sooner." Vanitas said.

"Well, with you taking on so many jobs it's nearly impossible to get in contact with you. Anyway, it might be a good break for you." Alzack said.

"Well, that would sound nice. In the meantime, I've no problem looking after her." Vanitas said.

Asuka screamed "Yay" and hugged Vanitas. Vanitas was surprised and gave Alzack a questioning look.

"She's pretty energetic. Hope that's not a problem." Alzack said.

Vanitas smirked. "Not at all. Best of luck with the preparations."

Alzack gave him a nod. He then hugged Asuka. Asked her to be good and then headed off. Asuka took the liberty of taking a seat on one of Vanitas' chairs, kicking her legs up and down in anticipation of something. This didn't go unnoticed by Vanitas.

"What's got you so excited?" he asked.

"I'm just so excited about the Fantasia parade. It's going to be the first one Fairy Tail held in nine years." Asuka answered.

Nine years? I thought from what you said that it was an annual event?" he asked playfully, trying to mask his concern. Usually if there hadn't been a celebration in a long time, it meant something bad happened.

Asuka lowered her head and continued speaking. "Yeah… about nine years ago, Natsu, Lucy, Happy and a lot of the other members were hit with an attack by a dragon that we thought destroyed the island they were on at the time. Tenroe Island. They were really in a kind of safety bubble, but it didn't wear off until seven years later. Then, because grandpa was worried about something, he disbanded the guild. Then, when it got back together again, the guild was so busy helping out those who were hit by Achnalogia's attacks on Fiore, we missed the Harvest Festival." She explained.

Vanitas was silent for a moment. He quickly felt guilty about asking as it seemed to resurface a lot of unwanted memories. "I'm sorry for asking, Asuka."

Asuka quickly lifted her head with a look so positive that Vanitas suddenly became a bit more cheery.

"Don't worry, it's not so bad. Now I get to see the parade for the first time EVER!" Asuka said, jumping off the chair and running around the apartment. Vanitas wasn't too worried, as he kept the apartment quite tidy so he wouldn't have the land lady breathing down his neck, so there was nothing she could trip on. He still kept a sharp eye on her in case anything happened. She came to a stop right in front of Vanitas and said. "I want to go outside."

"Wow, pretty assertive of you." Vanitas commented. Asuka soon gave him a look of confusion.

"Assertive- being able to make your point with confidence and with no aggressive- mean- ways to do it. One of the most important aspects of a leader." Vanitas explained.

Asuka beamed at him. "Does that mean I'm the leader for today?" she asked.

This caught Vanitas off guard. He was going to say no, but the hopeful look on Asuka's face couldn't allow him to do it. He sighed with defeat and answered "Yes."

Asuka punched the air with excitement. "In that case, we're going to the park to play tag." She said. She tapped Vanitas on the knee and said "You're it!" and ran to the door.

"Hey, don't run off like that- not before we hit the park anyway." He said, the second half of the sentence he added as an amendment. He jogged after her, firing a beam of energy at the now closed door of his apartment to lock it and kept up with Asuka.

" _Okay… this might be tougher than I thought."_ He admitted to himself.

…..

"This is amazing. I've never had fish like this before." Stated Happy, who was enjoying a plate full of sushi. Lucy was with him and had some herself, as well as giving the cat a questionable look.

"Seriously, you've never had sushi? The cat who tried to eat fish from a public aquarium?" Lucy asked with surprise.

When she mentioned something about an aquarium, Happy asked her not to speak of it again. This caused Lucy to chuckle a little bit. She ate a couple more pieces of her dish before asking where Natsu was.

"Aw, Erza nabbed him to help practice for the fireworks for the Fantasia parade. Everyone's working hard this year since we never had one for a while now." Happy explained.

Lucy rested her head on one of her hands and looked up at the sky. "Yeah, the last time Fairy Tail had the Fantasia parade, everyone was beaten up from Laxus' attempt to take over Fairy Tail. We managed to cover that up as a kind of preparation for the festival, since everyone was fighting each other. It'd be nice to perform without feeling like a herd of elephants landed on me."

"Frankly, I'd feel sorrier if you were on top of the elephant, it looks like you gained a bit of weight." Happy said, simply trying to mess with her.

Lucy grabbed Happy by the head and threw him at a nearby wall, squishing his face.

"Want to say that again?" she said with an undertone of anger present in her voice.

"No thanks." Happy said after pealing himself off of the wall.

The two then heard the sound of laughter coming from the park nearby. They both recognised the laugh as Asuka's, nodding in agreement to go see how she is. When they arrived, however, they received the shock of their lives when they saw Vanitas lying flat on the ground, limbs outstretched, while Asuka was running around him in circles yelling "I won, I won!"

The celestial wizard and the flying cat looked at each other in confusion before Happy said "Lucy, I think you threw me at the wall too hard because I see Vanitas being worn out."

"I'm pretty sure I see it too." Lucy said. She then turned back to them. "Hey, guys!" she yelled at them.

Asuka was the only on to respond. She looked to the duo and ran to them, giving Lucy a big hug. "Hi Lucy, hi Happy. Want to play tag?"

"No thanks. Wait, were you to paying tag?" Lucy looked at Vanitas again.

"I knew Asuka had a lot of energy but I didn't think she could wear him out." Happy said. He brought out his wings and flew to Vanitas. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked.

Vanitas responded by rolling backwards onto his shoulders, pushing himself up with one hand and did a couple of spins before landing on his feet. He looked to Happy. "Yeah, I'm good. Why'd you ask?"

Happy paused for a moment before saying. "Uh, never mind. So, you and Asuka hanging out together?"

Vanitas shrugged his shoulders. "Alzack asked me to look after her while he did some things for the Fantasia. She's the leader for today so we're doing what she wants, starting with a game of tag."

Happy sighed. "You fell into the same trap as Natsu then."

"I don't know what that means, but I'll just say… guess so." Vanitas responded.

"So Lucy, you want to get ice-cram?" Asuka asked Lucy.

"Sure, got a preference?" Lucy responded.

Asuka paused for a moment before saying "Vanitas, bring us to Rob's rocky road, please." She said.

Vanitas heard her and, for the fun of it, gave her a formal bow, putting one leg behind him and raising one arm into the air at his side while the other was up against his chest. "Most certainly m'lady." Vanitas said.

Lucy fought hard to hold back the giggles. She didn't expect Vanitas to have this much of a silly side. It was interesting to see.

"Onward!" Asuka yelled.

…..

A group of people were standing beside a lamp post in the east side of the town. There were three of them, looking at a map, a big circle drawn around "Endless Sparke", a well-known jewellery shop in the market area. Ironically, no one has ever tried to steal from it, mainly due to the incredible security that they have there. The guards were well trained in swordsmanship and also knew some illusionary magic that helped to catch the thieves off-guard.

However, they all decided to get together and try sushi, which led to a number of severe cases of food poisoning from expired fish. They were forced to take some time off so as to recover. There were some regular guards filling in for them until they could come back.

Just thinking about how it all happened just made the group giddy.

"This is great. For ages we were trying to get in there without those stupid guards, now's our chance!" one thief with a black bandana around his forehead said.

Another with a scar crossing his right eye soon said "Well, considering that the boss was the one who gave them the bad sushi, is it really that surprising?"

The bandana thief raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really? He did that?"

"Indeed I did." Came the voice of the largest in the group. He wore a grey tuxedo with a white bow tie, a black top hat and wore a very thick goatee. "Now that those guys are out of the picture, we've got a clear path to all those diamonds."

Another thief spoke up. "Boss, what about Fairy Tail? Two guys just took down the museum guy who was selling illegal magic. Won't they get in our way?"

The boss stroked his beard before responding. "Understandable, but there's no need to worry. They're so busy with their parade that they won't notice us when we sneak in and take in the goods. Right boys?"

The rest of the group all grunted happily in agreement.

The boss continued to stroke his facial hair. "Who could possibly stand in our way?"

…

"You've got to be kidding me." Vanitas said with a deadpan tone.

"What, I always get this when I'm here." Happy said, confused at Vanitas' disbelief.

"Well, it must be the only place in Magnolia – no, all of Fiore – to sell "Fish" flavoured ice cream." Vanitas responded.

"Oh yee of little faith, in time you will come to realise the wonders of our town." Happy said, pretending to sound like a wise, old elder.

Vanitas sighed. He and Happy decided to sit on a nearby bench and let Lucy and Asuka play together. After Lucy saw Vanitas lying on the ground like he was exhausted, she insisted on doing her part to help. Vanitas tried to explain that he was just playing himself, but Lucy was having none of it. Realising that she wouldn't relent, he agreed to let her take over for him for a bit.

"What is up with her anyway?" Vanitas asked himself out loud.

Happy knew the question wasn't aimed at him, but he answered anyway. "A while ago Natsu, Lucy and I watched Asuka while Alzack and Bisca were out on a job. She was a little more of a handful than we thought. We didn't mind, but Lucy's afraid others wouldn't take it well."

Vanitas sighed. "Well, looking after kids isn't exactly something I'm good at, I'll admit." Vanitas admitted.

Happy was surprised to hear this. "What do you mean? Asuka said she was having a super day today because of you."

Vanitas looked at Happy with a raised brow and widened eyes. "Really?" he asked.

"Yeah, you need to give yourself more credit." Happy said.

Vanitas remained silent for a moment. He never considered himself as someone who was good with people I general, never mind kids. While he may be a good person now, he was always afraid that the darker side of him would come back to bite him. Hearing Happy say what he said was a bit of a shock, and a bit helpful. He laid back on the chair, raising his head up to the sky.

Happy wasn't sure what Vanitas was doing, but he decided to follow suit. Vanitas was fully alerted when something came back to him.

"Wait, now I remember. That time you guys looked after Asuka, wasn't that the time you and Natsu kissed?" he asked, trying hard to supress the laughter.

Happy's face immediately turned green and trauma was clearly written on his face. "Who… told you that?" he asked.

"Asuka mentioned it before you guys showed up. Knowing the kind of incidents you two get into, it's not all that surprising. Although, if you're going to be doing anything weird later, let me know, a guy I did a job for owes me the use of his cannon." Vanitas said.

"What would you do with a cannon?" Happy asked, quickly recovering from his shock.

Vanitas gave him a smirk and an evil look in his eyes. "You'll see."

Happy was immediately shivering with fear, knowing that scary things was one of Vanitas' specialties. He couldn't imagine what would happen when Halloween came. Happy continued to eat his usual ice cream.

"So, do you think that there's going to be any more action today?" the tomcat asked.

"I certainly hope not!" Vanitas said. His mood was quickly shifting to that of annoyance and agitation. This surprised Happy.

"After that fight at the museum earlier, and after what Demy told me, I just want… I want a normal day for the rest of today. No crime, no fighting, no mayhem."

"What'll happen if it comes our way today then?" Happy asked.

Vanitas took in a deep breath, doing his best to lighten his mood. "To put it simply, Happy… I'll lose it."

Happy slightly moved away from Vanitas on the bench. He saw his training sessions with Natsu and Gray; seeing how vicious he could be made Happy wonder what would happen if he was to go all out. For a moment, they were silent, then Happy broke the silence by putting his ice-cream up to Vanitas' face and asked if he wanted a taste.

"No thanks, I'm still eating mine." Vanitas answered. He ordered a mint ice-cream with chocolate chips in it. It helped to lower his temper when he was in a bad mood. Vanitas caught Happy's attention and nodded his head towards Lucy and Asuka, using this as a silent question to see if he wanted to join them. Happy nodded with glee and hopped off the bench, making his way towards them. Vanitas didn't take long to follow him, although he was more relaxed about it than Happy was.

Vanitas suddenly turned his head to his right, sensing that something was amiss. His eyes narrowed and readied himself for something for happen.

"Hey, spiky!" Lucy yelled out loud. Vanitas turned back to her, her having succeeded in catching his attention and, seemingly, annoying him with the nickname.

"Spiky?" he asked.

Lucy smiled back at him. "Thought it would suit you. What's wrong? You looked pretty serious."

Vanitas shook his head, trying to clear his mind. He then stood in a defensive stance again. "We've got trouble coming." He said.

No sooner had he said it came a number of loud bangs from a nearby shop. He looked and saw a jewellery shop and saw smoke coming out of its windows. Soon, a number of men came running out with large leather bags, a number of gold items falling from the bags.

Vanitas' expression didn't change as he made his way towards the thieves. Deciding not to use his Keyblade, he opted to use his fists instead. She zoomed towards the criminals and managed to land a fist on one of the thieves left temple, causing him to fly into a nearby building.

Another thief looked back and saw Vanitas, recognising him immediately. "No way, that guy's in Fairy Tail, I thought the boss said they were all busy!" he exclaimed.

"Don't mind that, just run!" said another. They were about to sprint off when they each felt a hand wrap around their legs. They looked down to confirm their fears, which were indeed confirmed. Before they could check to see who it was, they felt their legs being pulled back, causing them to fall flat on their faces. Before they could register what had happened, they felt themselves being lifted into the air. While hanging upside down, they saw the spiky haired swordsman glaring down at them. His head was blocking out the sun, which caused his face to seem completely covered in shadows except how his eyes seemed to be glowing red from his fury.

"So… you think you can just steal this stuff, huh? Tell me, who told you guys you can just take what isn't yours. I'd be okay if it was a homeless person who was desperate, but you guys don't fit the bill." Vanitas said.

The two thieves were shivering with fright. They were quick to give up their boss.

"His name's Billiards Bronco, a retired mob boss who hires people to rob stuff to keep is pockets filled cash. He told us we would get a cut of the profits."

Vanitas was silent for a moment before he let them go and, as soon as he clicked his fingers, encased them in ice. He then looked back at the shop, hearing movement inside. He ran inside and checked for survivors. On the outside, Lucy, Asuka and Happy stood in silence as they saw what happened.

"I think Vanitas is about to lose it." Happy said.

"What's he going to lose?" Asuka asked, a bit confused at what he said.

Before Happy could reply, Vanitas was shot out of the building with incredible force. He reacted as quickly as possible, summoning his Keyblade and digging it into the ground, slowing his speed and helping him land properly. He looked behind him and saw the trio, all of them looking concerned. Vanitas gave them a small smirk.

"What? You didn't think that would hurt, did you?" he asked.

"Oh my, did I not put enough strength in that attack?" came a voice from within the shop.

Vanitas readied his battle stance, Lucy and Happy standing at either side of him while Asuka hid behind a bush, still not being able to fight, but was smiling at her certainty of her friends being able to win the fight to come.

Soon, the man in the tuxedo strolled out of the shop, holding a silver cane.

"I'll be sure not to make the same mistake. I must say, I didn't think that you Fairies would be in town today, instead I assumed that you were working on that silly parade."

Lucy and Happy's eyes twitched. Vanitas' peripheral vision caught this, surprised that they were being easily irritated. Vanitas put it in the back of his mind, focusing on the figure in front of him.

"So, you think you can pull off a robbery and think we wouldn't notice? Big mistake." Vanitas stated. He took the liberty of making the first move, teleporting behind him and swung the Keyblade at the top-hat thief in the arm. However, the Keyblade simply bounced off of him when the Keyblade impacted, not even leaving a mark. This shocked Vanitas; the opponent looked behind him and gave him a menacing smile. Not wanting to be out done, Vanitas charged his free hand with energy and conjured a ball of lightning. He slammed his hand into the back of Billiard Bronco's head and let the lightning flow all over him. Vanitas then quickly rolled backwards to avoid getting shocked himself. However, the lightning didn't seem to be affecting him as the lightning faded away.

"What the heck are you?" Vanitas asked.

The formally dressed thief swung the cane upwards and rested it on his right shoulder. "This little get up here is a fighter's best friend. The tuxedo protects me from any form of weapons, while the hat protects me from magic." He flicked the rim of his top hat. "Not much you fairies can do against me, is there?" he asked. He then turned back to Lucy and Happy, smiling at them with a smile that said that he felt superior. This irritated them both.

"Like you can talk, we know how to fight, while you just stand by and let others do the fighting for you. We know your type, you coward!" Happy said.

The thief's smirk changed to a frown, anger starting to get the better of him. He quickly brought the cane to his side and held it like a sword. He quickly made his way towards them, planning to beat them with it (perhaps not the best idea since they were experienced fighters); however, Bronco had stumbled back when something struck him in the eye. Lucy and Happy were surprised to see this. They looked behind them and saw Asuka holding her toy gun up. They soon connected the dots.

"Great job Asuka!" Happy yelled.

"Asuka, get out of here!" Lucy said with fright.

While it managed to catch him off-guard, the thief was angered by what happened and soon started running in Asuka's direction. Lucy tried to kick him but he grabbed her leg and, with surprising strength, threw her away. Happy tried to get in his way, but it ended with him being caught by the tail and launched in the same direction as Lucy.

While she knew that the thief was coming towards her, she showed no fear, unafraid to show what she was really made of. However, before she got the chance, Vanitas intervened, palm striking him in the sternum area, sending Bronco flying in the opposite direction. When he got back up, he was shocked. Asuka was impressed, but not surprised at all. She heard about his power and skill from her parents, so seeing him striking him a huge man like that seemed like child's play.

"How did you do that?" Bronco asked.

Vanitas grinned. "I'm pretty strong and I know your weakness. You're invulnerable to magic and weapons, but you never mentioned if fists would make a difference. Glad to see that I can use my fists on you after all."

Vanitas looked around him, looking at different areas to see if he could find a less populated area. That's when his eyes met a particular area, reminding him of a certain wish he always had when he first learned about them. He looked back to his opponent and said "Let's take this somewhere else."

…..

Erza sat in a chair by the fireplace of the "Chestnut Glass" bar, looking around at the mixed customer types present. Some were regular people while others were quite tall and muscular people, waiting for something exciting to happen. One of the bartenders went to Erza and asked if she wanted something else to drink. She held up her glass and asked for more water. He took the glass and left Erza alone, letting her reminisce about the day so far. They managed to build a lot of the floats, the costumes were ready, they just needed to practice their routines for the show. She breathed deeply and smiled widely, enjoying the piece and quiet now that she was finished.

" _Nothing can ruin this moment."_ She thought to herself.

However, she was soon proven wrong.

A loud crash could be heard at the entrance. She stood up ans quickly turned to see two men fighting each other, one pushing the other into the bar. He released his opponent and Erza saw that it was Vanitas who had pushed his opponent into the bar. He tried to land a right hook to his face, but the opponent caught the fist and launched him towards the bar, causing Vanitas to fly high and land behind the bar. Erza looked at the opponent and recognised him as the gentleman thief "Billiards Bronco", the thief that never got his hands dirty and never got into a fight. It was surprising to see that he could hold his own against Vanitas.

After Vanitas landed, it caused one person at the bar to spill his drink and threw his glass away in frustration; the glass hit one of the larger customers who didn't seem too happy about it. He got up and punched the glass thrower, who fell from his stool and had his head hit the foot of one of the other formal customers. They were not happy either, so he pulled out hit can and whacked it across the tall customer's head, knocking him out cold. During this, other customers had started fighting each other, being inspired by the surprising entrance of Vanitas and Bronco. After a few more seconds, it had officially turned into a full-on bar brawl.

Erza stood still for a moment, observing what was going on. When she decided to intervene, she saw Lucy enter the bar with a worried look on her face. When she saw Erza staring at her, she turned as white as a sheet, clearly being gripped by fear of what Erza might think.

"I assume you were having difficulty with a job." Erza stated.

Happy flew into the bar, looking around for Vanitas. When he saw the brawl, he couldn't help but come up with an idea. He turned to Lucy.

"Hold on a sec, Lucy." Happy said before flying off.

"Happy! Where are you going!?" Lucy screamed.

It turned out that Happy was flying towards a man who was sitting at a piano. He whispered something into the pianist's ear and handed him what looked like a thousand jewel. The pianist soon started playing fast paced bar music, the only kind you can play when there is a bar brawl going on. Lucy let her jaw drop in disbelief.

"You've got to be kidding me." Lucy said.

…

Asuka waited outside the bar, waiting for Vanitas, Lucy and Happy to finish. It must've been very difficult to finish since they were in there for a while now.

"Asuka?" came two voice behind her. She turned to see Alzack and Bisca, the latter having green hair, a cowboy hat, a sleeveless jacket, a short skirt and long, leather boots.

Asuka smiled. "Hi Mom, Hi Dad." She said gleefully.

"Where's Vanitas?" Alzack asked, worry and fear in his voice after seeing his daughter alone in the street.

"A thief robbed a store near us and he, Lucy and Happy tried to stop him. They took the fight into that place there." She said, pointing at the bar with the broken windows and the music playing.

Bisca suddenly realised something, making her shiver with fear. "Isn't that the place Erza goes to?" she asked out loud.

Alzack widened his eyes with shock. The question was answered when they saw everyone in the bar start to spill out like liquid from a picture. When they were all gone, Erza slowly made her way out with another customer in her hand.

"Had you not spilled my water, I would've let you all still have your fun. It didn't have to end that way. Now, you won't get into a bar fight again, will you?"

The customer shook his head quickly, which caused her to let go and let him drop to the ground. He ran off, leaving Erza to look around her. When she saw Alzack and Bisca, she smiled at them.

"Don't be angry with Vanitas, he only got into this because he was trying to protect your daughter. I'm sure he'll be done in a moment."

…..

Vanitas and "Billiards Bronco" stood face to face away from each other, both clearly worn from the fight. Lucy and Happy were hiding behind the bar with the bartender, all three fearing for their lives after seeing Vanitas trying to strike down the thief with a large barrel of ale. It was surprisingly scary to see him losing control like that. Both opponents stood still for a moment before making their way to the bar and taking up a stool at the same time. After another brief moment of silence, Bronco made an order.

"Give me a glass of your best champagne, please." He said, the tiredness present in his voice.

"Root…beer." Vanitas managed to say.

The bartender nodded and gave them their respective drinks. They downed them rather quickly and slammed their glasses onto the counter without breaking them. Vanitas reached into his pocket when Bronco reached his hand in front of Vanitas' face.

"I'm paying." He said.

"That's nice of you, but I'll take this one." Vanitas replied.

"I won't have that, I won't disrespect a great opponent like that."

"Likewise."

Lucy and Happy were shocked to see this. "Are they arguing over who should pay?" Lucy asked Happy.

"Looks like it." Hapy replied. "I wish that he would pay for my fish at the market."

They continued their debate for a little bit longer before Vanitas came up with an idea. "How about I pay for yours and you'll pay for mine."

"Deal." He said. They shook hands and each paid for the others drinks. Vanitas looked at Bronco for a moment.

"Now then." Vanitas stared. He continued by punching the thief so hard that he was sent flying towards one on the non-broken windows, ending with him crashing through and landing outside a large crowd. Vanitas saw that the top hat had been knocked off and decided to try it on. He turned to the pair behind the bar.

"How do I look?" he asked.

"Not bad, the hat suits you." Happy said.

Lucy sighed. "This won't end well.

After Lucy and Happy got out from behind the bar, they made their way outside and saw a hug e crowd cheering for them and saw the town's guards taking Bronco into custody.

Vanitas and Happy gave each other a high five.

"This turned out to be a pretty good day, right?" Happy asked.

Vanitas chuckled slightly. "It would be… except we may need to start running for our lives in a moment.

Happy was confused until he heard Lucy scream and turned to her. He was confused until he looked to where Lucy was looking and saw Bisca aiming a rifle at them… a very big rifle.

"Oh… Hi, Bisca. How's the shooting performance practice going?" Happy asked. She fired a bullet that was just a centimetre away from hitting Vanitas' right cheek, hitting the wall behind him.

"You tell me." She said with murder in her eyes.

Vanitas gave Asuka a thumbs up, which she smiled at, before he grabbed Lucy's hand and dashed away, avoiding the extra bullets that Bisca fired at them.

"WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN TO MEEEEEEEEEEE!" yelled Lucy, crying her eyes out.

Alzack couldn't help but feel sorry for the group. He knew they didn't mean for this to happen, but that wasn't going to stop his wife, who would show no mercy if her daughter was put in harm's way.

He felt a tug on his sleeve and saw Asuka smiling up at him.

"Can Vanitas look after me again, please?" she asked.

 **[And there you have it for this chapter. Sorry it took so long, I had a lot of stuff happening that kept me too busy to write. But now I'm back and ready to. I know this chapter was a bit different than the rest, but I always wanted to do something like this. Anyway, whether you liked it or not, feel free to leave a review and tell me what you think, I won't mind at all. See you all later.]**


	8. A surprising Disappearance

**[Hi everyone, hope all is well with you today. Just wanted to say thanks for the reviews and support so far, you're all great. I would also like to thank a guest reviewer, Matt, for pointing out I spelt Bisca's name wrong (I knew there was something bugging me about it), it should be fixed by now. Anyway, in case anyone is fed up with me talking, time to go back to the story. Enjoy!]**

Mirajane was having a hard time trying to figure out what was wrong while she was cleaning underneath the bar counter. The Guild hall was surprisingly quiet today all of a sudden. There wasn't a single brawl going on, not even a conversation out of anyone. She would've at least expected one or two people making the odd noise or two, but no, it was only the sound of silence.

Deciding to see what was going on, he got up from underneath the counter and saw that everyone, who had been here earlier, was suddenly gone. This surprised her greatly. Everyone had been here earlier. This led her to start looking around the hall to see what was going on. She searched the upstairs floors, the kitchen, the bathrooms, nothing.

She sat down at one of the tables, hoping for an explanation as to what was going on.

"Hey, sis." Came a familiar voice behind her.

Mirajane turned and saw her younger sister standing behind her.

"Lisanna, how are you today?" the elder sister asked gleefully.

"Ah, okay I guess. I'm a little bored since no one's around today." Lisanna answered. "Where are they, anyway?"

"I don't know, they were here not too long ago. If they're not here, I would guess they are down at the market or the fields outside of town." Mirajane said, now becoming more curious than worried for her friends.

Lisanna shook her head. "Nope, I checked, they're not there either." They both stayed silent for a moment before Lisanna gasped with a sudden thought. "Maybe they were kidnapped!" she suggested.

After another short moment of silence, they both ended up bursting with laughter. Knowing their guild-mates, if they were kidnapped the kidnappers would be very sorry in the end… unless they could survive explosions.

"Seriously though." Mirajane managed to say, recovering from the laughter. "It's not like they could've just vanished in thin air… again." Mirajane said.

The last time something like that happened it was when a parallel universe, whose magic was finite, turned the whole town into magic producing Lacrima and stole it. Only Natsu, Wendy, Happy and Carla managed to avoid it, as well as the former Fairy Tail Mystogen (who turned out to be a resident of the parallel world "Edolas" and was trying to stop their Lacrima) and took the opportunity to save them and stop their magic stealing process altogether.

Lisanna placed her hand on her chin as she continued to think. She then came up with an idea. "I'll go check with Vanitas at his place, he's pretty good when it comes to detective stuff."

This surprised Mirajane. "Seriously? Vanitas?" she had always pictured him as someone who preferred a magazine over an actually book.

Lisanna grinned. "Yeah. You should've seen the look on his face when I saw one of his shelves filled with murder-mystery books. I don't know why he would go beetroot-red though, the ladies love a sleuth."

A thought occurred to Mirajane and she gave her sister a cheeky grin. "Oh, do you like that kind of man too, little sis?" she asked.

Lisanna's face immediately turned scarlet with the surprise. "Wh-what are you talking about?" she asked.

Mira's eyes narrowed when she saw that she was getting somewhere. She was able to tell that after their first mission together, she had admired Vanitas greatly. She told them about what happened during the mission and how Vanitas saved her from her dark mood. Since then Vanitas had earned the respect of both her and Elfman, although the latter was still not happy with the idea of them dating.

Mira then shrugged. "Okay, okay. Go on and just see what he knows. If he doesn't know though, ask him if he wants to stop by, I'd love to finally get that ice-cream recipe he knows."

Lisanna sighed with both relief and disbelief, the former because she could be free of her sister's taunting, the latter because she didn't know why she still bothered about the ice cream, she didn't understand what was so good about it. With that, she made her way out the door, leaving Mirajane by herself.

The Fairy Tail bartender went back to the bar and started to do some baking, thinking it would be nice to be prepared for visitors. She got all the equipment out and was about to get an apron when she felt a hand wrap around her wrist and pulled her down. The assailant then wrapped his right arm around her, trapping her arms, and held left hand over her mouth. Whoever this person was, their strength was incredible.

" _What's going on!?"_ she asked, her thoughts simmering into a worrying state.

….

"Hellooooo. Vanitas, you there?" Lisanna asked, knocking on the door of Vanitas' apartment. She had knocked seven times already and she didn't receive an answer. It was unusual, this was Vanitas would be if he wasn't in the guild hall, plus he would leave some sort of indication on the off chance he wasn't there. She looked at the bottom of the door and checked to see if there was a piece of paper sticking out, as it would be his code for his absence. However, it wasn't there.

Lisanna was starting to become impatient. " _Where the heck is everyone today?"_ she thought to herself. She shook her head and made her way over to Lucy's apartment. With any luck, she would still be in there. When she arrived, she knocked on the door, hoping that someone would answer it. After waiting for ten seconds, she completely lost her patience and turned away from the door. Before she made it six metres away from the door, she heard it click open. Lucy came out the door, wearing yellow pyjamas and had messy hair. Her eyes seemed very tired, which probably suggested that either she had difficulty sleeping or that she had just woken up.

"Geez, Lisanna, why are you waking me so early?" she asked.

Lisanna widened her eyes in surprise from hearing thar. "Early? It's one in the afternoon! Why are you still sleeping?" Lisanna asked.

Lucy yawned again. When she was finished, she answered her. "I was practicing with my celestial spirits a little longer. I guess I used up more energy than I thought." Lucy gestured for Lisanna to come in. After taking a couple of seconds to think about it, she took on her offer and went in. Lucy went back to her room to get dressed, leaving Lisanna to read an old copy of "Sorcerer Weekly". She scanned the pages and came across a story of a pillar of flame coming out of a lake that stopped a group of poachers.

" _I bet that was Natsu again._ " She thought to herself. She put the magazine down and just stared at the ceiling while she waited for Lucy to come back.

"You're really bored, aren't you?" Lucy asked. She came out wearing a black t-shirt, a yellow jacket, a pair of skinny jeans and had her hair tied to the side of her head.

"Just wanted to ask if you knew where everyone was today. There all gone. Even Vanitas is missing." Lisanna explained.

Lucy's tired expression immediately turned into one of alarm. "Missing!? How!?" she exclaimed.

"Don't Know. The only other member I saw before you was Mira, she didn't know where anyone was either." Lisanna said.

"Wait… Mira's by herself!? If this is a kidnapping spree, what if she's next!?" Luc asked.

Lisanna was about to answer that she would be alright, but she quickly changed her mind when she remembered that many of the members were extremely strong already, So Mirajane could very well be a target.

"Let's head to the guild!" Lisanna exclaimed, with Lucy nodding in response. They both rushed up to the door. When Lucy opened it, they saw Mirajane standing outside the door.

"It's official… the other members have been kidnapped." Mirajane said.

"WHAT!?" screamed Lucy and Lisanna in unison.

"That's right, a guy was hiding under the bar back at the guild and tried to subdue me and take me with him. I left him with a few broken body parts after he tried, handed him over to the city guard and ran here as quickly as possible. I was worried you guys were next." Mirajane explained, concern written all over her face.

Lucy rested her hands on her hips and began thinking about what to do next. After a few seconds she spoke. "Well, we better find out who did this all the same. If we can't find our friends in the process, we'll just have to beat it out of the culprit." She said, slamming her right fist into her left palm.

"Sounds good to me." Lisanna said with a thumbs up.

Pink smoke started to gather around Mirajane, covering her completely. When it faded, she was searing a tweet jacket, spectacles and had an umbrella in her right hand that she used as a cane while she held a magnifying glass in her left.

"Let's solve this mystery, girls!" she said with passion and determination.

"Alright, I'm all fired up now!" Lisanna exclaimed.

"Natsu would be pretty annoyed if he heard you just now." Lucy pointed out.

Lisanna smirked. "Well, he'd just have to deal with it."

….

A young man was walking through the desert, tired, exhausted and wishing an oasis would appear in front of him so that he could swim around and enjoy the cooling sensation. He thought that he came across a few on his journey, but he soon realised that they were mirages after he felt that there was nothing but sand in his mouth every time he tried to drink it all up.

He stopped for a moment and looked up at the sun with a displeased look on his face.

"Why do you mock me?" he asked the sun. As if expecting an answer, he stayed silent for a moment.

"What, you think because you can mess with my head you can act all high and mighty?" he asked again. The desert was clearly starting to get the better of him.

"Ah, forget it. You're not worth the effort." He said, looking away from the sun and continuing his difficult walk. Actually, it wasn't the heat of the sun or the heat coming off of the sand that was causing him grief. He was actually able to handle even the highest temperatures in the warmest of climates and still wear a black hoodie and jeans without breaking a sweat. The problem was that he hadn't eaten for three and a half weeks, plus he was starting to run low on water. Nevertheless, he strived on, aiming to reach his destination.

"Got to get to Magnolia, got to get to Magnolia, got to get to Magnolia…" he kept saying to himself. He would reach the city of Magnolia even if it was the last thing he ever did. He thought that they had answers to questions that he needed answering and he was going to do everything he could to get those answers.

" _Need to know… what's happing… to me…_ " he thought to himself.

After another half hour of walking, he fell to his knees, unable to walk. He reached for his flask and drained the remaining water from it. When it was all gone, he threw the flask away and slammed a fist into the sand.

"Dammit!" he yelled out loud. He took in another few deep breathes before, after lowering his head to look at the soft ground beneath him, raised his head to look at the path before him. He was about to sigh out of defeat when something caught his eye in the distance. He tried his best to focus his eyes and saw that it was a green area. It meant that he was close to a forest. If he was right, it was the same forest that should be right next to Magnolia. Generating strength from the remaining willpower he had, he got back on his feet and continued on his way,

"I'll make it… I will figure out what the hell is going on…"

…

The three female Fairy Tail wizards have not had any luck in finding the other members so far.

They went to all their homes, checking for forced entry, seeing if anything was out of place, something was missing (although Natsu's house was so messy the girls weren't even able to walk through the door without being hit with a strong odour), and yet, nothing seemed wrong with their homes. They went around town to see if any of the locals spotted the members today. Unfortunately, they haven't seen them either. Many of them seemed happy because they believed that they would not have to deal with their constant arguments for the day.

After spending half of the afternoon, they took a break and rested in the park.

"Wow, this is harder than it looks." Lisanna said.

"It looked tough to start with, I say." Lucy said.

"C'mon, we should've found something by now. What are we doing wrong?" Mirajane said, starting to get annoyed now.

They all laid down on a patch of grass and were contemplating what to do next. They searched all over town and couldn't find a single trace of them. There had to be something they were missing.

"Any chance the kidnappers used some kind of magic to hide their tracks?" Lisanna suggested.

"Maybe." Lucy answered. It'd be great if we had someone who had a nose as good as Natsu's. If the spell wore off by now, that person could sniff them out."

"Where are we going to find one of those?" Mirajane asked.

Before anyone of them could say another word, they heard a great deal of commotion near one of the market stalls. They all sat up, looked at each other and made their way towards the source without uttering a word. When they arrived, they had to push a large crowd out of their way to see what they were looking at. After they succeeded in doing that, they were stunned to see that it was a teenage boy, probably around seventeen or eighteen, lying on his back with his limbs out-stretched. He had tanned skin, brown, messy hair and silver eyes. He wore a black t-shirt with a couple of white strips crossing through his chest, making an "X" shape. He also wore a pair of digital camo pants and combat boots. He had navy bandages wrapped around his forearms and his palms.

The girls were in complete shock at what they saw. He was very skinny, most likely from hunger, and his eyes were seemingly void of life. He turned his head towards Mirajane, who had recovered from the initial shock more quickly than Lucy and Lisanna.

"F…food… please…" he managed to say.

"Right, let's get you something. I'll get some soup – Lucy, get some water for him, we need to make sure…"

The mysterious boy lost concentration in the woman when something caught his nose. He turned his head to see a number of pizza's cooking in a very large pizza oven. With as much strength as he could muster, he turned himself over and started crawling over to the oven. The girls saw that he was crawling over there.

"No, no, no, you can't eat solid food yet! Please listen to me!" Mirajane said.

The boy ignored her. He managed to make his way to the stall, etching his way to the oven. He managed to stand up and placed his hand into the oven, alarming everyone.

"Hey, what are you doing!? You can't put you hand in there, what are you crazy!?" The pizza chef said.

The boy continued to ignore the people around him. They all expected him to pull out on of the pizzas.

However, much to their surprise, he grabbed part of the fire and held it in his hands and shoved it down his throat. Everyone around him screamed in terror, especially the Fairy Tail girls. Everyone else ran away while the girls stayed behind and watched as he emptied the oven of its flames. When he was finished, he had filled out much more, developing muscle and a slight increase in height.

He turned back to the girls and gave them a nervous smile. "Did I uh… scare you guys?"

They were silent for a moment before Lisanna spoke up. "Are you a Dragonslayer!" she asked.

This caught the boy's attention. He shook his head before taking out one of the pizzas and leaving a sufficient amount of money to pay for the pizza, as well as a little extra as a tip. He turned back to the girls.

"No… I'm not a Dragonslayer. But…" he raised his right hand and it became engulfed in a crimson flame that had a black outline.

"I think I'm definitely a wizard, but I'm not sure what kind, though." He admitted.

The girls were silent for a moment. Mirajane was first to break the silence, holding out her hand as she stepped forward.

"It's nice to meet you. My name is Mirajane. Behind me is my sister, Lisanna." She pointed her hand to her sister, who nodded and gave him a thumbs up. Mirajane continued "And this is her and my friend, Lucy." She pointed towards Lucy, who gave a nervous chuckle and a small wave.

The boy smiled back and gave them a thumbs up. He extinguished the flames and brushed himself off. He smiled again. "It's great to meet you all. The name's Derek Ignus."

That's a cool name." Lisanna stated.

"Thanks, you've all got nice names interesting too." Derek said.

The girls all smiled at his compliment. Then, Lucy remembered one important question.

"Hey… if you don't mind me asking… what are your senses like?"

Derek was confused by the question, but answered all the same. "Well, uh… they're pretty much like everyone else's, except for my eyesight and hearing though.

Mirajane's interest was caught immediately. "Really?"

Derek nodded. "Yep. Why? Is something wrong?" Derek asked, sensing something was wrong.

The girls' faces switched from happy to a depressed look in an instant. "Our friends… our guild-mates… they've all vanished and we don't know where they are." Lucy said.

"Guild-mates… wait, are you saying you're members of Fairy Tail!?" he asked in disbelief. "And that they're missing!?"

They all nodded. Derek was surprised, unsure of what to say for a moment. But after shaking her head, he put on a face of determination and made a fist. "Tell me what you guys know so far."

The girls were surprised to hear this, but answered his question all the same.

"Nothing." Mirajane said. "We looked everywhere and we couldn't find a single clue. How can this happen?" while she didn't cry, fear and sadness were present in her voice.

It didn't take long for Derek to deduce that she, as well as Lucy and Lisanna, had suffered painful losses. He thought for a moment. Suddenly, an idea came to mind.

"Alright… I'm going to suggest something, and I don't think you're going to like it, so I apologise in advance."

What are you talking about?" Lisanna asked.

Derek remained silent for a second before answering. "What if they were still over in your guild area?" he suggested.

Mirajane shook her head in disappointment. "No, I checked everywhere in the guild where they could be, the kitchen, the fighting grounds, I even went down to the library in the basement to check and they still weren't there."

"Okay… where would be the last place you would expect to find them all together?" Derek asked.

The Fairy Tail trio thought about it for a second before they all gasped in realisation. Derek widened his eyes from the excitement and anticipation.

"You guys figure it out?" he asked.

"We think we did… and if we're right…" Mirajane started. After a moment or two of silence, the girls started to burst out laughing. This confused Derek completely, leaving him unsure of what to say next. When the girls finished, they explained their theory to the boy.

"We did, and if we're right, it's going to be the punishment Natsu deserves!" Lucy said.

"Natsu?" Derek asked.

"It'll be pretty difficult for Elfman too." Lisanna pointed out, causing Mirajane to return to her fit of laughter.

"Elfman? Are these members of your guild?" Derek asked.

"Y-yeah, they are." Mirajane managed to say after recovering from her bout of chuckles.

"The big question is, why would the kidnapper bring them there?" Lisanna asked herself.

Lucy answered. "Well, like Derek here said, it'd be the last place we'd think to look plus…" Lucy was halfway through her sentence when she thought of something. "But it's also where there's a ton of magical items are at the moment!" she exclaimed, causing the other two girls to look grim with concern and Derek to look goofy with confusion.

You're right! Because it's where we all go, there's a lot of dangerous stuff there. If they get their hands on it, there could be trouble." Lisanna stated.

Derek raised his hand. "Errr… Excuse me, while I'm glad to see that you're putting the pieces together, can you at least tell me where it is, exactly, your friends have been taken to?"

Lucy raised her fist high into the air as she explained their theory.

"The place where everyone is hiding is-"

…..

"Why did we have to come here?"

"It's the only place she wouldn't have expected us to be."

"Yeah, well, I still don't like it."

"This is insulting, we should set up somewhere else."

"We didn't have a lot of time, man."

"I sure hope this was worth it. Can we at least turn on the lights or so-"

"OUCH! Watch wear you're walking!"

"SSHHH. I hear someone coming!"

The speakers readied themselves, hiding behind anything that they could find, waiting for whoever it was, preferably their main target, to make an appearance. As the noise grew, they soon began to hear more people follow behind.

"Aw man, I thought we got everyone here!"

"We must've missed a view. Oh well."

"Do you think they know?"

"Doubt it, we kept it super-secret!"

"SHHH!"

"Sorry."

They came silent again, and as they did, they heard voices on the outside.

"Here… we… go…"

….

"So, the guild has a dormitory for the female members of Fairy Tail, huh?" Derek asked. He saw that it was a huge building, like a bed and breakfast, that was situated right next to the beach. A good choice of place to set up, he had to admit.

"Yeah, it'd be the last place we'd ever think to look for the guys, so it'd be the perfect place." Mirajane said.

Derek raised an eyebrow and smirked. He breathed in deeply and continued to stare at the building, wondering if there was a dormitory for the males too.

Lucy ran to the front of the group and about-faced, he right fist right next to her face. "Alright, is everyone up to date with the plan?" Lucy asked.

The other three looked at her in confusion. The confusion was explained when Derek asked "Plan?"

Lucy's arms flopped to her side in disbelief. "Yeah, the plan. The plan where me, Derek and Lisanna go in at the front, distract the bad guys while Mirajane sneaks in at the back and starts beating everyone, then we follow suit." She explained.

Derek and Lisanna sighed while Mirajane stayed perfectly still.

"Going in there without knowing who the enemy is, even if it's for a little bit, is like digging your own grave. Why don't we just throw in a stick of dynamite and see what happens?" Derek said, the second sentence he said sarcastically.

Mirajane, however, didn't pick up on the sarcasm and looked in her coat pocket and, much to the surprise of everyone, pulled out a stick of dynamite.

"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA! I WAS BEING SARCASTIC!" Derek exclaimed.

Mirajane gave him a smile. "Relax, it's actually a frag grenade shaped like a dynamite." He explained as she got out a lighter and lit the fuse. "It works like a regular piece of dynamite, only when the fuse is all burnt up, the flame will burn the material it's made of and fill the room with smoke. I got it at a gift shop." She explained.

The jaws of the other three all dropped.

"Who sells that kind of stuff!?" Lucy asked in disbelief.

Lisanna sighed. "Anything for a quick buck I guess."

Mirajane readied herself and, when the fuse was half gone, threw it into a window near the front door. She smiled at her achievement and opened her coat pocket to put the lighter back in her pocket. She placed the lighter back when she noticed something that made her face turn as white as a sheet.

Derek noticed this. "What's wrong?"

Mirajane put her hand back in and pulled out an identical stick of dynamite. There was silence for a moment before Lisanna broke it. "You've two of those things?" she asked.

"No…" Mirajane said.

Suddenly, there was a massive explosion inside the dormitory, shattering the windows and blowing some of the walls off of the building. The group crouched down and held their arms up in defence, except for Derek who used his ability to breathe in the fire that the explosion caused. He was able to consume a great portion, despite not trying his ability out on something this large before. When he was finished, he breathed heavily, as he wasn't able to take in air as he ate the fire.

He turned back to Mirajane. "Why did you have a real stick of dynamite in your pocket?" he asked, greatly agitated.

Mirajane chuckled nervously. "When I got the frag, I got the other stick on a "two for one" deal. It seemed like a good idea at the time."

Derek was about to say something when they heard a great amount of coughing and shouting.

Lisanna was the first to get up and ready herself. "Alright, it's time for action!" she said, morphing into her cat form (surprising Derek) and charged through what was left of the front door. After she bashed through, she was shocked at what she saw.

It was all the members of Fairy Tail, all wearing a combinations of party outfits and smouldering ash, standing in the charred room with a severely damaged cake and a burnt banner that read "Surprise Lisanna!" She stood still, motionless, wondering what on earth land was going on. Her questions were soon answered when Natsu appeared under a piece of debris, following him was Happy and Carla.

"Hey Lisanna, do you like the party?" he asked, as if oblivious to what had just happened.

Her face became beet-root red when she heard this. "P-p-party?" she asked.

"Yep!" came a voice above them all. They all looked up to the ceiling where a bright blue barrier was covering something. When it faded, everyone saw that it was Vanitas, who had quite a lot of ash on him himself. He dropped from the ceiling and landed with a roll.

"Allow me to explain." He said.

…

As Mirajane struggled to escape her captor, he seemed to be putting up more of a fight the more she resisted. Her struggling stopped when she recognised the voice of her captor when he started speaking.

"SHHHHH! She's still too close, she'll hear you."

The captor lowered his hands and Mirajane turned to this person, only to see that it was Vanitas.

"Vanitas! What on earth do you think you are doing!?" she whispered, all the while still illustrating her anger.

Vanitas chuckled, unable to hold back his surprise of seeing Mirajane angry.

"Sorry Mira, but this was the only time I could get your attention. You see, all of the members are over at the girl's dormitory setting up a surprise party." He explained.

"A party!" she said in surprise. She looked over the bar briefly, making sure that no one else was there before sinking back down, eager to hear more of what Vanitas had to say. Before he could say anymore, she held up her hand to ask a question.

"Why are you setting up at Fairy Hills, it'd be pretty weird, wouldn't it." She asked.

Vanitas soon began to look sheepish, rubbing the back of his head in slight embarrassment. "Well, we have a lot of stuff planned and it'd take a long time to set up. We couldn't risk doing it in the guild in case we were caught. So we went for the least likely place you'd think to check."

Mirajane nodded understandingly. She was about to ask another question when Vanitas held up his own hand. "To answer your next question, Natsu came up with the idea. He wanted to make the best party ever as a make up for the wreck he did last year. I never imagined goats can get that angry. All the other guys seemed pretty okay with it so we went along with it. Course Erza reminded them not to get up to mischief there."

Mirajane chuckled slightly. "So, can I do anything to help?" she asked.

"Yep, we need you to keep Lisanna and anyone else who doesn't know yet out of the loop, keep them busy until we're finished."

Mirajane gave him a smiled and a thumbs up.

"You can count on me!" she said.

….

"WHAT!" Lucy, Lisanna and Derek all screamed at the same time.

"Yep, I knew what was going on the whole time. I even planned to use the frag grenade to add to the light show they were going to do when they would yell surprise… I just got the sticks mixed up." Mirajane admitted.

"Remind me again, why did you have dynamite in the first place?" Vanitas asked,

"I got it in a gift shop when I got the frag stick." She answered.

"I've got to say, I was pretty impressed that you all managed to figure out where we were, and that you managed to stop that explosion from causing more damage." Elfman said.

"Thanks, but… we didn't supress the explosion." Lisanna admitted.

This confused everyone, until Lucy pointed to their new friend Derek behind him, who was helping himself to a couple of burning pieces of wood, more specifically the fire on them. This blew everyone away, causing them all to scram in unison a t what they were seeing.

Derek turned back to them, gulping the flames in his mouth and said "Sorry, the name's Derek, I hope I didn't scare you guys."

Natsu was quick to run behind him and put him in a headlock. "Are you kidding!? This is awesome! We got another Dragonslayer, and a fire guy too. Hey, are you wanting to join Fairy Tail, I could show you some pretty cool moves." Natsu said.

Before he could say anything more, he was encased in a large block of ice, Derek managing to escape when he felt the pink haired wizard get colder.

"Don't even think about it, moron. Cool moves are my thing!" Gray said, wearing nothing but a pair of underpants.

"Worst pun EVER!" Happy said, his fur building up on the top of his head, turning into an afro.

Derek looked around before shaking his head. "I'm sorry, I had no intention of joining Fairy Tail. I was actually hoping for answers as to what kind of powers I have. I'm not really sure if I'm a Dragonslayer."

Natsu broke from the ice and place a hand on Derek's shoulders. "Well, that's alright." He said, apparently having heard what he said from within the ice. "Anyway, you want to stick around for a little bit, we can still have the party, and there's still some cake to go." He continued, pointing at the near-demolished dessert.

Derek was silent for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and answered "Sure, why not?"

Everyone cheered in delight. They soon got to celebrate the party. They put a candle on the cake and had Lisanna blow it out. As she did, she made a wish, deciding to keep it to herself (which upset the other members greatly, except for Vanitas and Erza, who respected her wishes). And spent the rest of the day partying like mad. Not being too fond of massive celebrations, Vanitas took a step outside, deciding to relish the outside air.

"You've got some pretty cool friends there." Came a voice behind him. Vanitas turned and saw that it was the boy, Derek. He smiled at the newcomer.

"I'd say destructive and crazy, but your way of saying it is better." Vanitas responded. They both shared a silent chuckle. The dark warrior held out his hand. "The name's Vanitas." He said.

"Derek, but you probably knew that already." Derek responded, shaking Vanitas' outstretched hand.

They looked to the ocean and stared for a little while longer before Vanitas decided to ask a question. "Did you have those powers for long?"

Derek nodded his head. "I had them for as long as I can remember. I can eat fire and cover my arms and legs in fire, but that's about it. I want to know what kind of power I have so that I can use it to its fullest potential, and have better control over it." He explained.

Vanitas lifted his head up towards the sky and stared for a moment. "What will you do after you get your answers?" he asked.

That question caused Derek to stop dead in his tracks. He wasn't sure what to do, he hadn't thought that far ahead.

Vanitas saw this and suggested an answer. "You said you didn't have any intention of joining Fairy Tail, but you might consider it, especially when you know how much a lot of those jobs pay." He said.

Derek looked to Vanitas with widened eyes. "You want me to join?" he asked in disbelief.

Vanitas shrugged his shoulder. "That's for you to decide. I'm just suggesting it, you know. But if you do think about it… all I'll say that it was the best choice I ever made, and I never looked back. There are people here who celebrate with each other, fight with and for each other… even willing to put their lives on the line for each other." He turned back to the dorm with a smile on his face. "This place is one of the most caring families you could ever hope for. Something I never experienced until I came here. I've no doubt that you'd be happy here. But I won't force it on you, it's for you to decide, after all."

Vanitas stretched out his arms and walked towards the dorm. "Better make sure to get back before they all eat up the cake… correction, before Natsu devours what's left of the cake." He said.

Derek chuckled a little as he watched Vanitas walk back in. He continued to stare back at the ocean, thinking about what Vanitas said. To be a part of something like that sounded nice. When he got his powers sorted, he would think about it, but would be staying in Magnolia for a while all the same to restock on supplies. As he started to make his way back to the party, he felt a presence behind him. He turned back and his face morphed into a look of anger.

Before him was a spectral outline of a large beast, seemingly with large claws and massive horns on his head. There were a pair of burning eyes that met Derek's, whose eyes suddenly changed from silver to scarlet, and the whites became pitch-black. Also, black marks started to crawl up from the centre of his back, up his neck and coating his shoulders, his hair becoming spikier and changed into a crimson colour. A faint aura a flame soon appeared around him.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked, his voice becoming an amalgamation of his own and that of a beast.

The spectre formed a smile on its face before giving a small, haughty laugh and soon vanished all together. When it was gone, Derek calmed down slightly and started to make his way to the party again, before he looked into a puddle and saw the physical changes that he was taking on. He was stunned, unable to move, until a second later the features vanished and he returned to his old self. He place a hand on his face and stared at the puddle for a while longer.

"What the hell is happening to me?" he asked, his voice returning to normal as well.

 **[Well, that's that for this chapter. I hope you all liked it. While I enjoy writing these kind of chapters, it's time to move back to the main story. Don't worry, I promise that there will be many more interesting moments in those too. Even a special appearance, but by who? Anyway, hope you see you all again, please review]**


	9. Plans of Action

Vanitas was slow to open his eyes. His body and brain were both wide awake, but his eyes weren't keen to follow their lead. It took him a whole two hours to open his eyes and get out of his bed, certainly not his usual routine.

The party he had last night had gone longer than he thought. He was only able to get home at around six in the morning, and he was only after getting four hours of sleep. Waking up felt like a spear was piercing his head. He would hate to imagine what would've happened if he had anything to drink. Cana had tried to challenge him into a drinking contest, but he refused. If he did accept the offer, he would be dead the next morning.

After peeling himself off of his bed, he went about his usual routine. Showering, brushing his teeth, ruffling his own hair rather than brushing it, then getting dressed. He would then sit down for a bit and read some of the books he had lying around. While he would usually go for newspapers and magazines, as they provided news on what was going around the world so he could be prepared, he took an interest in the classic adventure and horror novels."

" _Have to thank Lucy for getting me this one."_ He thought to himself.

He kept flicking through the pages until he felt he had enough. He put the book on his table, stretched his muscles and made his way towards the door. He was about to open it when he heard a knock on the door. He smirked, guessing who it was, and slowly opened it to see a very irritated Lucy holding Natsu in one hand and Happy in the other, both having massive bruises on the side of their faces.

"If I had a single jewel for every time you appeared at the door like this, I'd be a pretty rich man." Vanitas said.

Lucy dropped the two onto the ground, causing them to wince in pain.

"The dynamic duo wanted to talk. See you later." Lucy simply said before walking off. Vanitas watched her walk off for a moment before looking at the fire wizard and the cat, confusion written on his face.

"What did you guys do now?" he asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"What?" Natsu asked. After the dynamite explosion at Lisanna's surprise party, Natsu's extra sharp ears kept ringing and made it difficult for him to hear.

Happy took the liberty of answering Vanitas' question. "We were coming here because Natsu wanted to talk to you about something. He was so excited about it he accidently shot off a fireball and it went straight for Lucy's apartment. We were outside at the time, but boy, when's she's angry, she's really fast."

"What do you mean?" Vanitas asked.

Natsu heard him that time, so he answered. "It was only two seconds after that fireball hit when she zoomed out of her apartment and tackled us to the ground. She makes us think we're not welcome."

Vanitas shook his head and sighed. When he was finished, he looked at them both. "Well, you wanted to talk, right? What about?" He let Natsu and Happy in and they all sat down.

Natsu wore that determined face he always bore when he had, what he thought, was a great idea. This often landed himself and those involved in trouble, but Vanitas didn't mind. Much of the things Natsu had planned were quite fun anyway.

"What are you planning now, Salamander?" Vanitas asked, a smile forming on his face.

"I'm getting five people to go on a job, and I want you to be on that team!" Natsu stated.

Happy flew up into the air and raised a paw up as high as he could. "Aye, I'm on the team too!"

Vanitas was silent for a moment before asking his next question. "This job must be pretty serious." He stated plainly.

"Oh it's going to be a tough one." Natsu said before pointing directly at Vanitas. "Because you're going to pick it!"

Vanitas raised an eyebrow. "You want me to pick the job? Shouldn't you've asked me before wanting to set up a team, the job might not be that hard." Vanitas said before picking up the book he was reading.

"Not if the prey we're luring out is going to be tough." Natsu said.

Vanitas continued to read the book, not looking up at Natsu, but heard him all the same. "Oh, we're luring something out, huh? Alright, I'll bite. What are we trying to catch?" he asked.

Natsu's grin widened. "We're going to catch and interrogate one of these "organization XIII" guys." Natsu said.

All was silent again, until Vanitas' head rose and revealed his eyes had turned red again. This look caused Happy to shiver and Natsu to pause in confusion.

"What's wrong, you don't like it?" Natsu asked.

As if to answer his question. Vanitas' body became coated in a pitch-black aura. Natsu raised a hand and tried to explain himself.

"These guys haven't been around for a while, but there's no point just sitting around waiting for them to attack. They could be preparing to attack you when you wouldn't thing they would. We should take the fight to them, take them out one by one and show them whose boss."

Vanitas' aura continued to stay on him, his anger over what Natsu was planning not dwindling in the slightest. He slammed the book closed and walked towards one of the windows. He took in a deep breath before giving his answer.

"If we're going to do this-" he started, causing Happy and Natsu to look overjoyed, "There's an old trick I'm going to have to work on. To give us an edge."

The duo then looked confused, Happy asking the question they had on their mind. "What trick?"

Vanitas look down at his wristband, more specifically, the symbol on it.

He smiled to himself. "You'll see." He said. The aura faded and turned back to the two, who were now curious as to what he had planned.

"So…" Vanitas said casually. "Who did you have in mind for this team?"

…

Levy continued to read her romance novel, unable to lift her eyes from the pages. She was in the guild's cellar, the book she found was something she found among the shelves. It caught her interest, so she started reading it. She had been down there for two hours now.

"Ain't it a bad idea to stay down here too long?" came a voice above her.

Levy looked up to see who it was. The speaker was a man with long, black hair that had spikes sticking up behind him. He had metal studs over his eyes in place of eyebrows, red eyes with slitted pupils like a snakes. He wore a bandana around his forehead, black, sleeveless top with a feathery shoulder pad, fingerless gloves, white pants and boots that had iron around the opening for the foot and the sole of the shoe.

To others, he would seem like a terrifying menace who you would not want to cross. However, Levy beamed when she saw him, jumping out of her chair and running up the stairs and stopping right in front of him, hugging him. This surprised him, but he let her continue. When she released him, she was still smiling.

"Gajeel, you're back! I didn't think you'd take so long on that job. What happened?" Levy was incredibly happy to see him, as they were in fact in a relationship now.

"That stupid monster didn't want to give up fighting. I admire that, but it annoyed me since…" What Gajeel was about to say was too difficult for him, but he tried all the same. "… I missed you."

Levy gave him a grin. She stood up straight. "What happened to the big, tough Gajeel I knew?" she said, trying to get a rise out of him. It worked, as his head became red with anger.

"I'm still that guy, no one beats-"

"The Iron Dragonslayer." Came a voice from behind them.

They turned to see Vanitas, Natsu and Happy in front of them, the latter two looking calm and care free while Vanitas kept a serious face.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Levy asked.

"Who the hell is the weirdo in the button shirt?" Gajeel asked.

Levy gave him a smack in the back of his head with spine of a book she found lying about. "Gajjel, be nice!" she whispered loudly.

"We can hear you levy." Vanitas said. "And to answer your question, the name's Vanitas, Fairy Tail's newest member, for now anyway, and we want to see if you want to help on a job." He stated.

Gajeel grinned while Levy seemed more worried. "What kind of job?" he asked.

Vanitas pulled out a rolled up piece of paper and held it out to him. Gajeel grabbed it and unrolled it, reading that it was a mission involving trying to locate a dangerous criminal. He looked back at them. "Why would you need me, you guys think you can't do it yourselves?" he asked with a grin.

"Nah, we just wanted to know if you wanted in. I thought you'd be more interested, look at the reward." Natsu said with a giggle.

Gajeel looked at the bottom of the page and he was completely blown away at what he saw. Levy looked in at the label an she was also surprised at what she saw.

The reward was an all-expense paid, two week, holiday at any resort the person carrying out the reward wished for. The person could also bring a plus one. Gajeel and Levy looked at each other. Gajeel smirked at the paper again while Levy kept thanking the group.

"No need for thanks. Just think of this as a thank you from me for helping me fit in here." Vanitas said.

"I'd better go start packing, see you guys later!" she said excitedly. She gave Gajeel a kiss on the cheek, which caused him to blush, and she ran straight out the door.

"Hey, careful not to run too fast!" he said. That comment caused the other three to look at him in confusion, which caused him to blush even more. Happy summed it up in one, simple sentence.

"You looooove her." He said.

"SHUT UP CAT!" he exclaimed. He then turned to Vanitas. "I know what the cat and the hot-head can do, but how do I know that you're not a weakling who'll just get in my way?"

To answer his question, Vanitas vanished in an instant, reappearing with his Keyblade outstretch and with Gajeel grunting in pain and falling onto one knee, placing a hand on his stomach.

"Do you have your answer?" Vanitas asked, a grin now forming on his face.

Gajeel turned back to him. "What the hell are you?" he asked.

Vanitas stood up straight, dematerialised his Keyblade and shrugged. "Who knows? Although… if that attack wasn't enough for you…" Vanitas started. He built up his black aura again, building up a concentrated amount in his right hand and plunging his darkened fist into the ground. The dark energy on the ground expanded slightly. Vanitas took a step back and waited for a moment. After a few seconds, a salvo of purple projectiles fired from the dark energy on the ground. He all changed direction and landed on the ground. After they landed, they all saw small, purple creatures with small arms, legs, horn-like antennas on their heads, pointed noses and red eyes.

Gajeel was stunned to see this, but Happy and Natsu were screaming their heads off, with Happy clinging onto Natsu's face like his life depended on it.

"WHAT'S GOING ON!?" Happy asked.

Vanitas admired the creatures for a moment before answering. "These are the unversed. When I was brought into the world, it wasn't under the best circumstances. With my power acting up, the negativity took shape as these creature. A horde of dark and angry emotions under my control."

He took in a deep breath, calming himself down, which caused the unversed to disappear.

"If we're going to do this, Natsu, we're going to need an army. This ability allows me to make one. Not only that, but when they're destroyed, their negativity flows back into me, allowing them to be brought back."

They were all taken back for a moment. Natsu soon broke the silence. "That… is… AWESOME!"

Vanitas was surprised to hear this. Natsu walked up to him and gave him a small punch in the shoulder.

"You didn't tell me you had your own army. How come you didn't show us earlier?" he asked.

"Because, like I said, they're creatures of my negativity. My dark side. It would be normally too risky to try and bring them out, but now I have no choice.

"Why've you no choice?" Gajeel asked.

Vanitas stood still for a moment. He looked to Natsu. "You fill him in, I'll be back in a bit." He said before walking off.

"Hey, where are you going?" Natsu asked angrily.

Vanitas turned back to him with a smile. "Why go you think? We've got one more recruit to get."

…

Derek sat in fear in the house of the pharmacist, afraid of what she might do next.

The pharmacist in question, Porlyusica, was a mysterious, old woman. She had long, pink hair that she tied up into a bun, red eyes that seemed to scare your soul half to death. She wore a long cape that had a high collar that had white spikes sticking out of various parts on top. The cape covered her clothes, but he saw that she was wearing an old dress.

The now confirmed fire mage admired her dedication to her work, but was scared of her after she started beating him and Alzack (who came with him to try and keep her calm) with a broom. After Derek managed to explain his situation mid-beating, she stopped and got to work, apologising for her behaviour and explained that she isn't fond of the human race.

After an hour of testing, Derek was getting bored. He wanted to ask how the process was going, but was afraid that he might anger the woman.

"So, what's the situation?" Alzack asked, causing Derek to jump with fright.

Porlyusica placed the test tubes she was holding on her workbench and turned to them, giving Derek a questioning look.

"How long have had these abilities?" she asked.

Derek felt himself shivering with fear. "Um… since I was a kid. Why?"

The old pharmacist looked at the tubes again. At first, nothing happened, but after a few seconds, the clear liquid inside the tubes soon turned crimson, surprising the men that were present.

"So… I was right." She said to herself. It was said quietly, but Derek's sharp ears caught on to what she said.

"Right about what?" Derek asked.

Porlyusica turned back to him and gave him a grimancing look. "Do you know about the slayer mages?"

Derek paused at this. "Like… Dragonslayers?" he asked.

She nodded. "At first, we saw that there were only Dragonslayers, but in recent events, we learned of different types of Slayer-type mages. For an example, we came across a couple of "Godslayers", those who use the power of gods to be able to sell them. It was actually quite surprising to see. However, we came across the third variety for the first time last year."

She stopped talking after she noticed Derek and Alzack were literally on the edges of their respective seats.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO IDIOTS DOING!" she yelled, scaring the two off their seats completely.

"S-sorry!" Alzack said.

She continued. "The third variety, which I believe you are, are "Demonslayers", those who have gained the power of a demon to fight them. They are indeed the most dangerous variety, as their power originates from monsters who wish for nothing but the extermination of all that is good. However, the Demonslayer before you has gained full control of his power, ensuring he won't fall into the darkness the demons thrive on."

Derek was entranced by this information, knowing that he has incredible at his fingertips. He gained a little bit of fear when she made the point it was possible to become evil, but was also relieved to hear that he can keep himself from becoming a bad person.

A thought soon occurred to him. "Wait, whose the other Demonslayer?" he asked.

"I believe you met him, his name is Gray Fullbuster." Porlyusica said.

"Wait, Gray, really?" Derek asked. He briefly chuckled. "And here I thought his ice-moulding magic was awesome. So what can I do as a Demonslayer?"

Porlyusica thought for a moment. "I don't really know to the full extent. I do know one move you can perform, but it's all I can offer at the moment. If you like, you can consult the blue-haired girl in Fairy Tail with the yellow headband, she can find you a book that has all that you need."

Derek nodded in gratitude. "Thank you so much." He said.

"If you really want to thank me-" she started, then she grabbed Derek by the face and Alzack by his as she pushed them outside, causing them to land on their backs.

"THEN DON'T COME BACK!" she finished loudly. She then slammed the door shut, causing them to wince. They looked at each other briefly before Derek broke the silence.

"Well… that was something." He said.

"I'm sorry about that, she gets like this with everyone." He replied.

"It's fine… so… what do you think I should do now?" Derek asked him.

"What do you mean?" Alzack asked in return.

Derek stood up, helped Alzack up, and answered Alzack's question.

"I came to magnolia to learn what my powers actually are, but now that I've done that-"

"You've still got more to learn, and Gray's the only guy that can show you how to use your magic." Alzack pointed out.

This caught Derek's attention. He was about to protest, but he realised that he had a point. It wouldn't be easy trying to learn how to use his abilities on his own. If there was help available, he would need it. He took in a deep breath and looked into the distance.

"Alright… you win. So, where's Gray now?"

….

Lisanna was doing a couple of delivery jobs around the city. It was nothing major, mainly just a few groceries from market stalls to people's home, as they were unable to make orders they made the other day. After doing twenty of these jobs in the one day, she was completely exhausted. Even though, overall, there was a big amount of jewel at the end of the day, for some reason she still didn't feel like she accomplished anything today.

She was walking back to the guild when she felt a presence behind her. She turned around and found that there was nothing there. She stood still for a moment before turning around, only to come face to face with the dark warrior.

"Boo." Vanitas said deadpan.

It was enough to make Lisanna jump and let out a small yelp. Vanitas struggled to keep down his chuckles. Lisanna, however, wasn't laughing.

"Why'd you do that? It's not very nice, you know!" She exclaimed.

After Vanitas recovered, she stood up straight and offered her a helping hand up, which she took without any hesitation.

"Sorry, I've been having a bad day today, I needed to do something to lift my mood." Vanitas explained.

Lisanna smirked. "Oh, you think it's funny to make girls jump like that?" he said sarcastically.

Vanitas shrugged his shoulders. "What can I say? You look kind of cute." Vanitas stated with a smile. This immediately caused Lisanna to blush and widen her eyes.

"Uh… thanks." Lisanna managed to say, suddenly starting to have difficulty to speech.

Vanitas simply smiled at her. He then focused himself and remembered what he wanted to talk to her about. "Right, so… there's something I actually need your help with."

"What is it?" Lisanna asked, suddenly very curious.

"Natsu and I are gathering a group of five mages to do a dangerous job that will have a big pay day. Granted, I already promised the reward to Gajeel, another member of the team we're setting up." Vanitas started.

Lisanna raised up her hand and stopped him. "Why are you asking me to join if you're giving the reward to someone else?" she asked.

Vanitas raised an eyebrow. "First of all, I reckon you don't need it with all that jewel in your pocket." He said, looking at Lisanna's pockets that had a 10,000 jewel note sticking out. Lisanna looked slightly ashamed, having letting her greed show. Vanitas laughed, saying she was just like Lucy in that regard.

"Second, the job is more focused on luring out some guys who are trying to cause some trouble, the last time they popped up I was taking on a serious job, so I'm going to try again." Vanitas continued.

Lisanna was silent for a moment. "This was all Natsu's idea, wasn't it?" she asked.

"I know, not my usual style." Vanitas said.

"Well, I don't mind helping you out at all, but why are you asking me?" she asked.

"Because you're a strong mage, which we are going to need to get the job done…" Vanitas started. He took in a deep breath before finishing. "And because I think the guys we're after are related to the guy who was kidnapping those girls we fought before, we might have a lead on finding them." He finished.

Lisanna froze instantly. While she never really admitted it to anyone, she constantly had those events on her mind. While it didn't traumatise her anymore, she still wondered about how she could help save them. Vanitas was now offering a chance to do so.

However, while she would do anything to support her friends, the plan seemed a little to… optimistic. Natsu had let it slip that an assassin showed up trying to kill Vanitas during their museum job, but that could've been a coincidence. After a long moment of silence, debating the pros and cons to herself, she lifted her head to give him her answer.

"I'm in." she said bluntly.

Vanitas smiled and nodded to her in response. "We're meeting up at the city gates, pack for the beach." He said, before teleporting away, leaving her alone in the street.

"I don't like it when he does that." Lisanna muttered to herself, wearing a pouting face. She made her way back to her home.

…

Derek went inside the Fairy Tail guild hall, witnessing the usual chaos present. He was hoping to find the person he was looking for inside, but unfortunately, he had no luck. His friends back home would often joke that his luck with people would be some of the biggest problems he had growing up, as many people he would try to talk to would either have no interest in him or because they all thought he was a bit too weird to talk too. As a result, he would often be alone, only having his family members to keep him company.

He decided to sit back up at the bar. It was there that he once again saw Mirajane, one of the three first women of Fairy Tail he met.

"Hellooooooo!" she said, seemingly in a cheery mood. "I see you decided to stick around after all." She said. Derek chuckled in response.

"So, would you like to order something? I'm okay with just talking if that's all you want to do." She said.

Derek thought for a moment before giving her an answer. "A talk and a pint of Apple juice sound good to me." He admitted.

Mirajane gave him a wink a got him his liquid of choice. She leaned over the bar and looked directly at him, making him feel a little uncomfortable.

"So…" she started. She remained silent for a moment.

"So what?" Derek asked.

"Did Porlyusica give you the answers you're looking for?" she finished.

Derek nodded. He took another sip before he gave his answer.

"Apparently, I'm what's known as a Demonslayer." He said, smiling as he expected some kind of reaction.

He was proven right, as Mirajane's eyes became as wide as saucers and screamed at the top of her voice.

"YOU'RE A DEMONSLAYER!?" she yelled, causing Derek to fall off his stool and land on his back. He winced as placed his hand on his ear.

"So… loud…" he said, his ears now having suffered strong pain as his enhanced hearing made Mirajane's scream more sharp and painful. "Why… did you… have to… yell so loud." He whispered.

Mirajane looked rather sheepish and apologetic as she realised what she had done. "Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." She said

"What?" Derek said, his hearing temporarily impaired. Mirajane came out from behind the bar and helped him up onto his stool, telling him to wait while she got some eardrops to help fix his ears. He didn't here, except for the part where she asked him to wait. As he waited, he turned around and saw all the members of the guild look at him with amazement. Initially, it surprised him, but after a moment or two, he could make out that people were wanting to know more.

He pointed to his ears and said loudly "Sorry, if you have any questions, you'll have to wait until my ears stop ringing, I can't hear until then."

The other guild members all gave him a thumbs up. As he turned back to the bar, Cana was the first to speak her mind about the sudden realisation.

"You know, if he was to join, we'd have four Dragonslayers and two Demonslayers. We'd be pretty much the coolest guild in Fiore." She said, gulping down a large barrel of wine soon after she finished.

Elfman was next to speak. "We're already the manliest guild around, Cana, but it be good to have a man like him join us."

"A voice spoke up in the background. "Well, we should probably wait until the master gets back. Where's he gone by the way?"

Mirajane came back into the hall with the eardrops for Derek. She heard the question about the master and answered. "Master Makarov is in the town trying to help organise the route for the parade. Everyone is still amazed he's still working as master of the guild."

Everyone had a wide grin on their faces. They all knew that Makarov secretly loved being master and wouldn't give up his position for the world at this stage.

Mirajane went up to Derek and administered the drops. After a few seconds, his hearing was restored. He turned back to the rest of the guild and asked "What do you want to know?"

"You thinking of joining Fairy Tail?" came a voice in the background.

Derek shrugged his shoulders. "I don't really know yet. Why? You guys don't want me to join?"

"Ah, no. We were just wondering if you'd like to. We don't want to force anything on you or anything, but the offer's still open." Elfman stated.

Derek remained silent for a moment. He sighed and continued speaking. "Well, if it's alright, I'd like to talk to-"

"Me?" came a voice from the entrance.

Everyone turned and saw Gray standing outside the guild hall with a smile on his face.

"I'd be happy to help you out as much as I can, but a lot of the stuff I know is ice-based." He said.

Derek finished his drink and stood up, put his hands in his pocket and replied "I'm not looking for you to teach me the conventional way." He stated.

Everyone was confused at first, but Derek soon explained himself. "I want to fight you, Gray. I have a feeling that I'll be able to learn more about what I can do if I'm put under a life or death situation. Don't ask me why, but I'm just certain I'll be able to learn better this way." He said.

Everyone in the guild let their jaws drop. They had already seen how dangerous a fight between Dragonslayers can be, but the idea of two Demonslayers going head to head…

All was silent for a moment. Then, all the members were shouting with joy. Derek was able to handle this better than Mirajane's outburst. They all gathered around the two and all wanted to make their own comments about the situation.

"Alright! I always wanted to see Gray get some competition!"

"Gray! Show him what it means to be a real man!"

"Go get him Derek! Show him what you've got!"

The excitement only started to increase since then; everyone had started to place bets on who would win the next fight (which both Gray and Derek knew would be a bit unfair, but for very different reasons). Derek was invited to spend the rest of the night in the guild hall and celebrate. He wasn't sure about it at first, but he couldn't say no when he saw Mirajane give him a hopeful smile and two thumbs up. So, he was trapped in a night of Fairy Tail madness.

" _Oh no, this isn't good!"_ he thought.

Unknown to any of them, the same outline of the beast that had appeared to Derek earlier was sitting in the rafters, looking at the Fire Demonslayer to be. His shape soon began to fill out, revealing a red mane, a wolf face with brown skin and blue horns sticking out of his head. His body was humanoid, but he had extra-long claws instead of nails and had hind legs. The creature leered at Derek Igneous, thinking that he will soon become incredibly powerful.

All that power that he could very well help the Keyblade wielder save this world… or destroy it himself.

The creature stood up, keeping its balance, and an aura of flames started building around it.

" _ **We shall soon see what fate will choose for this child.** "_ The creature said. As he soon started to fade away, she thought one more thing.

" _ **You asked me who I was… it is only fair that I answer. I am… Ifrit… King of the Fire Demons. Now, show me that you can wield our power. Show me you've earned that right.** "_

With that, the creature, Ifrit, completely faded from view.

….

Vanitas, Natsu, Lisanna, Gajeel and Happy all stood at the gates of the city. They were all more than prepared to go out. They would complete the job, but were still a little bit nervous if their plan was to work. The person Vanitas fought was nowhere near as strong as the other members, and knowing what kind of power Xehanort could wield… the fact that there was more of him out there now.

Vanitas felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw Lisanna, who gave him an encouraging smile. It cheered him up slightly, which he was thankful for.

"Alright, I'm so fired up!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Glad to hear it." Lisanna commented.

"You'd better make sure you keep your end of the bargain, spiky!"

"No problem." Natsu and Vanitas responded simultaneously. They looked at each other and soon started laughing.

"Aye, I'm ready too!" Happy said, flying onto Natsu's head.

Lisanna looked out into the distance. "We'd better get going."

The rest of the group nodded. They soon made their way, hoping that everything would work out well in the end. However, unknown to them, they were being watched from the shadows. The figure was able to crouch and the side of the city walls, easily keeping his balance so that he doesn't fall. He jumped off and slowly floated onto the ground. When he landed, the shadows covering him were gone.

The figure was wearing the black coat of the organization.

The figure reached for his hood with his right hand, pulling it back to reveal a man in his early to mid-thirties, long silver hair with the sides sticking out behind him like horns. He had tanned skin and ember eyes. He looked at the group setting off and smiled, folding his arms over his chest.

"So… it seems you have chosen to take the fight to us. However, you have yet to realise you have already lost." He let his arms drop and let dark energy coat his body.

"I will have to be sure to remind you of that…" as soon as he finished, he was completely engulfed. The darkness soon faded, leaving no trace of the man who was standing there.

 **[Hi everyone, I hope this was an interesting chapter. I know there isn't much happening at the moment, but I can promise things are going to be much more interesting soon. In case any of you asked, when I added the unversed (which I was always planning to do, don't worry), I decided to use the colour scheme from the final mix edition for Birth by Sleep, purely because I thought it looked a small bit more interesting; hope no one minds, but I'm going to stick with it. Also, in case any of you ask why I included Ifrit into the story… well, after Final Fantasy XV, I wanted to include him some way into the story, and I liked the FFX version of him best. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, and if you did (or didn't) please leave a review, I'd love some feedback, thanks, see you later.]**


	10. A snake in the sand

"YOU DIDN'T TELL ME WE'D BE DEALING WITH THIS!" Gajeel roared at the top of his lungs, which was surprising since he and the rest of the group were sprinting for an hour straight.

"WE DIDN'T KNOW, THE CLIENTS NEVER TOLD US!" Natsu yelled, panic written on his face.

"TO BE FAIR, I DOUBT ANYONE WOULD TAKE THE JOB IF THEY KNEW THOSE GUYS HAD THAT THING CAGED UP AND READY TO GO!" Vanitas yelled. He was the only one who had a grin on his face as the three ran. He looked up and saw Happy and Lisanna with wings flying in the air, both looking as panicky as Natsu.

He looked behind him briefly to check to see if the creature was still chasing them. Much to his disappointment, it wasn't too far behind.

The group had organised to do a top-level job to try and lure out a member of Organization XIII, as that seemed to be the only time they would appear. The job they took on involved having to take on deranged criminal who would rob a place and leave a dangerous piece of magical lacrima behind, often causing random side effects. It varied from explosions to creating a barrier around the area that would keep people trapped for hours.

There hasn't been a single person capable of capturing him. Many were afraid to go against him as they were afraid of getting hit with one of his randomising lacrima, while those who did try were never able to find him.

When the Fairy Tail group took on the job, they had searched the last location he was said to have been seen, which was a village near the west coast of Fiore called "Seaville". The criminal, known as "Lacri-Mack", due to his fondness of using different Lacrima, had broken into the nautical museum and stole a priceless pearl that was said to have curse. If it was stolen, bad luck would befall the previous owner, as the theft would've been a sign that the previous owner failed the pearl.

While Vanitas thought it was nonsense, the clients were very serious about the curse and wished for it to be returned, as they were afraid that the curse would affect the whole village (with the museum being a public building).

Vanitas thought back to the events of what happened, starting with what had happened when they found Lacri-Mack's current lair.

 _(Flashback, 2 hrs earlier)_ …..

"We're never going to get the job done?" Lisanna asked.

The group had split up into two teams, Lisanna and Gajeel would look around the town, while Natsu and Vanitas would search the museum to see if he left any clues.

"Quit complaining and help me look in that old out-house over there!" Gajell said, pointing to an old out-house that looked like it hadn't been washed in over a century, the amount of brown stains and flies surrounding it was enough to make Lisanna feel the contents of her stomach rise.

"There's no way I'm going near that." She stated.

"Hey, I've got a better sense of smell than you do, so if I can handle it you can too." The Iron Dragonslayer said back to her. He pulled out something from pocket and threw it over to Lisanna. When she caught it, she saw that it was a face mask.

"I'm going to need something better than just a mask." Lisanna said.

"Or you may not need it at al!" Came a familiar voice behind her.

She turned and saw Happy in mid-air, directly behind her, with a smile on his face.

"Hey Happy, did you guys find something?" Lisanna asked.

Happy nodded. "Aye. I don't really know what it is myself, but Vanitas told me that he needed both your help as soon as possible."

Gajeel turned to Happy when he heard him being indirectly mentioned. "What does that guy need our help for? Can't he take care of himself?"

Before Happy can answer, a large, blinding light erupted from the museum. The three turned to the museum, watching for three seconds exactly before making their way over as quickly as possible. Happy grabbed on to Gajeel and flew at "Max Speed", while Lisanna transformed into a giant bird and flew after Happy. They didn't stop outside the museum. In fact, bracing for impact, they shot through the front door, shattering it and causing the remains to fly towards the centre of the room. After arriving, they had to cover their eyes as the light was still shining, making it difficult for anyone to see.

Happy was the first to speak. "NATSU, VANITAS! ARE YOU GUYS OKAY!?" he asked.

As if to answer his question, the sound of magical energy was present from near the centre of the room. Lisanna focused her eyes and saw an orb of black energy. Within a second, it expanded, the diameter covering the entire room, cancelling out the light. When it was gone, Gajeel, Lisanna and Happy looked to the centre of the room to see, facing away from them, Vanitas holding his Keyblade up into the air. He turned back to them, revealing himself to be wearing a pair of sunglasses. He took them off and gave them all a smirk.

"Sorry about the light show, we found another one of this guy's lacrima. This one only created a light so strong it could disorient anyone who looked at it. I managed to get these out in time, but…"

Vanitas looked towards the centre of the room and saw Natsu lying over a pillar, unconscious, on his back.

"Natsu was knocked out cold from the sudden blast of light. His eyes will be okay but he's probably not going to see properly for a while. So I'm going to need your help with something."

"Hey… I can still fight…" Natsu said, managing to awaken from his comatose state.

Vanitas shook his head with a smirk on his face. "I'd reckon you need rest. Besides, it's not a fight I need helping with. It's reading an old book."

With that, Natsu immediately fell asleep. Gajeel looked at him with disbelief while Lisanna and Happy laughed. Vanitas just stood where he was, staring at a crack in the ground that was made by Natsu when they were searching for clues. Vanitas nearly lost his temper with Natsu, but changed his mind when he saw something underneath the crack. He was going to get Natsu to expand the crack when the lacrima activated, probably as a reaction from the power of Natsu's magic, underneath the pedestal where the pearl once rested. Now that the effect was over, he could get to work.

Vanitas went over to the crack and turned to Gajeel. "Gajeel, do you mind making a large hole where that crack is?" he asked.

"Now we're talking!" Gajeel replied.

Lisanna, however, was less enthusiastic. "What! Vanitas, what are you thinking!? You hate causing unnecessary damage!"

Vanitas pointed his index finger into the air, right next to his head. "You're right about that. However, this damage was, in fact, necessary. Look."

Vanitas pointed towards the ground. He pulled out a piece of fabric from his pocket and walked over to it and held it over the crack. No sooner had he done it, the fabric soon started to sway from a gentle breeze coming out of the crack. Everyone was confused at first, but they all caught on.

"A secret passage!? Awesome!" Happy said.

"Yep. I just need a force strong enough to make an entrance big enough for all of us to fit. So, you ready, Gajeel?" Vanitas asked.

The Iron Dragonslayer slammed his fists together and made a terrifying looking grin. "Better take a step back, punks."

Vanitas threw Natsu over his right shoulder and jumped up onto the rafters of the roof, with Lisanna and Happy flying up after him. Gajeel readied himself. He inhaled a large portion of air. He held it in briefly before he roared at the top of his lungs-

" **IRON DRAGON ROAR!"** from his mouth shot out a spinning cloud of iron shrapnel and slammed into the crack into the ground, which created an explosion that had enough force in it for the shockwave to shatter every window in the building. Vanitas couldn't believe that there was so much force behind the attack, and soon regretted having Gajeel to this task. He held his left arm over his eyes to protect his eyes from any debris, while Lisanna and Happy each hid behind a piece of the rafters.

After Gajeel finished, Vanitas jumped down and inspected the damage. The crack had been replaced with a gaping hole in the ground. He was right, there was in fact, a secret passage underneath. He looked around them and saw the level of destruction that had occurred. Vanitas just looked at Gajeel with a serious look on his face. Gajeel looked back at him with a confused look as a response.

"What?" he asked.

…

The group were now making their way through the passage. Vanitas was still irritated about what happened, but he put it at the back of his mind, knowing that they needed to stay focused on his job. Natsu (who managed to recover quickly after Gajeel exposed the passage), Lisanna and Happy, however, were well aware of Vanitas' bad mood. Lisanna was feeling concern for him while the other two were afraid that he would summon the Unversed again; while they were impressed that Vanitas had his own personal army, they gave off a dark vibe that sent chills down their spines.

They were walking through it for half an hour before Natsu and Gajeel picked up on some noise towards the end.

"Guys, we got something." Natsu said.

"It's coming from just up ahead." Gajeel finished.

They turned their walk into a jog, hurrying towards the source of the sound. Natsu and Happy exchanged looks of triumph as they high-fived each other. Vanitas wore a mask of stone as a sense of danger suddenly kicked in. As he was at the front of the group, he stopped and held an arm up which was a signal for the rest of the group to stop.

"What's wrong?" Happy asked.

Vanitas' eyes narrowed. "Something's wrong." He focused his eyes towards the end of the tunnel. He saw a brief sparkle of light that vanished in an instant. He slowly made his way over to where he saw the light. He chose not to bring out his Keyblade in case there was something that would react to the power from it. When he made his way towards the place where the light was, he saw that it was the end of the tunnel. Confused, as he was certain that there would be something more to see, he looked down to where he saw the light. He squinted his eyes and saw that it was a piece of Lacrima.

"What the heck?" he said to himself.

"Hey, Vanitas, any luck?" Lisanna asked.

Vanitas looked behind him, towards the group, and shook his head. "Sorry guys, it's a bust."

The group made no effort to hide their disappointment. Everyone, except for Natsu, sighed in defeated. However, Natsu was soon roaring to the heavens.

"WHAT! YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME, I THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO FIND A SUPER COOL BAD GUY LAIR! THIS SUCKS!" he had built up a lair of fire around his body as he shouted, the flames growing more intense by the second.

The lacrima on the ground suddenly began to glow. Vanitas looked at it when his peripheral vision caught the light. He looked back to Natsu and quickly connected the dots. He was right that the crystal would react to magic, and Natsu was pouring out massive amounts from it.

"Natsu, calm down!" Vanitas said.

"WHY SHOULD I!?" Natsu asked angrily.

As if the answer, the Lacrima soon started to glow if an incredibly intense light, even more intense than what Natsu and Vanitas saw earlier.

"Everyone move, NOW!" Vanitas exclaimed.

Before anyone could move though, a powerful shockwave burst from the object that struck them all with full force. There was a strong surge of magical energy following after the shockwave, which knocked everyone out. A few seconds later, the light had completely engulfed the tunnel, making everything inside invisible as it was covered with while light. When it finally faded, the group had vanished.

…

 _Natsu's was feeling incredibly dizzy and disoriented. He hadn't felt like this since he absorbed Laxus' lightning, which made him feel sick due to him only able to consume fire without any health risks. He looked around him, only to see that he was in a pitch-black void, unable to see anything around him. He stood still for a moment, expecting for something to pop out from nowhere._

 _The hairs on the back of his neck suddenly shot up, causing Natsu to turn around and ignite his fists. His eyes soon met the sight of a boy with light orange to blond hair that was spiked up, blue eyes, wearing a black and white t-shirt, shorts and a pauldron on his left shoulder. It was connected to a strap that was also wrapped around him, making an "X" shape, a heart shaped sitting on the centre._

 _The mysterious boy gave him a smile._

" _Thanks… for saving him." He said._

" _What do you mean?" Natsu asked, confusion written on his face._

 _The boy chuckled. "You've been able to help Vanitas. Save him from the dark he was thrown into. Thank you."_

… _.._

Natsu woke with a startled look on his face. He felt a strong surge go through his head as he opened his eyes. He guessed that whatever they were hit with had a strong level of power. He had managed to open his eyes and saw that he was no longer in the same cave. The rock walls were coloured dark purple and the ground was made of a violet coloured rock. He heard commotion up ahead of the cave.

He shook himself awake and looked around, hoping to find a place to hide. His eyes met a crate with an open top, the lid lying right against hit. He leapt into it and pulled the top over it, hoping that he will be able to stay hidden. On the outside, two men with lab coats were talking to each other. They soon saw the crate Natsu was hidden.

"Looks like someone forgot to bring that one to the storage room." One of them said.

"If the boss is going to hire guys to move these crates, they really should to their job. C'mon, lets move it ourselves." Said the other.

They went up to the crate, doing their best to lift it. One of them commented that it felt like there was a lead weight in the crate. Inside the crate, Natsu took offense to the comment, trying his best to hold in his anger in as his eyes were suddenly replaced with raging flames.

He found a small hole in one of the sides of the crate; he used it to see what was going outside as he was being chauffeured around the area. The further they moved, he saw that they were headed into, much to is excitement, a type of lair with a number of different machines and balconies. He was trying hard to keep in his excitement. He eyed the area, hoping to find his friends (and Gajeel) as well as this "Lacri-Mack". For some reason, he couldn't help but snigger at the pun.

He went back to being serious as he remembered that he was I the enemy's territory now. He scanned the room with his eye, hoping to find a clue. His ears perked up when he heard someone talking in the background.

"Alright, boss. Just tell me where to set up the next piece of Lacrima and we're ready to go." Came the voice of a man with an incredibly hoarse voice.

"Very good. Now, go to the city of Magnolia, I heard that the guild Fairy Tail has some pretty good stuff hidden there. And I want it." Came the voice of Lacri-Mack, the leader of this operation.

Natsu was immediately enraged at what he had just heard. This group had gone all around different places, stealing what wasn't theirs out of pure greed. If this wasn't bad enough, they were now going to attack his home two.

With that, he engulfed his whole body in flames. On the outside, there was smoke starting to emit from the openings in the crate, causing alarm to those who had brought the crate into the room. As one tried to open the crate, an enormous ball of fire shot out of the crate, a powerful roar of a beast seeming to come out of it as well. All the henchman present were scared beyond all belief and ran for their lives, not wanting to go head to head with whatever this was.

The voice of the boss hadn't come up at all. He decided that if they weren't going to do their job, they weren't worth raising his voice to. A pair of grey eyes stared at the fireball from the darkness, only his eyes visible. When the fire came down and hit the ground, it created a shockwave as an eruption of flame following after it.

After the fire faded, Natsu stood up straight, flames now covering his arms and rage written all over his face.

"DON'T YOU DARE THINK ABOUT GOING NEAR MY GUILD! IF YOU THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH THIS, I'M GOING TO SHOW YOU HOW WRONG YOU REALLY ARE!" Natsu roared.

Natsu scanned the room, soon coming across the eyes that shined in the dark. He launched himself towards his target, roaring with rage and his fire becoming much more intense. The flames soon brightened up the area where the leader was standing, revealing a man in his mid-thirties, brown, short hair with a few grey streaks, a roundish face with a number of wrinkles around his eyes and on his cheeks. He was of average height and wore a black cloak with a large hood hanging off the back.

Before Natsu could strike him, a force of purple energy suddenly appeared around him, acting as a shield against Natsu's attack. When the salamander's fist hit the shield, it created a large crack in the shield, but faild to go the whole way through. He planted his feet onto the shield and pushed himself off, allowing himself to rocket back into the air; he performed a back-flip and landed back onto the ground in a crouch.

"You got lucky there, punk, now I'm going to finish you off." Natsu said. His anger had lessened, but he was still ready to go all out on the crime boss.

Lacri-Mack smiled and raised his left hand, clicking his fingers. Suddenly, ice started to build up around him, forming the shape of a flame. The ice quickly shattered into pieces. The shards were left hanging in the air for a moment before they all fired themselves towards Natsu.

Natsu was about to use one of his techniques to melt the ice when a hand grabbed his scarf and yanked him to his left side, the shards striking where he was just standing. When the hand let go, he turned around and saw it was Lisanna who had pulled him back.

"Lisanna!? Where were you? Why'd you pull me away? I had him!" The interruption to his fight had greatly irritated him.

"That ice won't be melted by fire, you would've been skewed alive." Lisanna explained.

"Who says?" Natsu asked.

As if to answer his question, a figure warped right in front of him, causing Natsu to jump with brief shock and land in Lisanna's arms. When he recovered, he saw that it was Vanitas who had appeared in front of him. However, he was now wearing a crimson jacket with the symbol of the Unversed on the back. He turned to the two wizards behind him.

"Miss me?" he asked. His face had a serious frown and a small smirk, but his eyebrows quickly rose when he saw Lisanna holding Natsu bridal style. "Am I invited to the reception?" he asked jokingly.

The two wizards were confused at first, but they took a quick look at themselves and realised the position they were in.

"We will never speak of this." Natsu said.

"Agreed." Lisanna said, dropping Natsu onto the ground.

Vanitas let out a small chuckle at the scene. Then he turned his gaze towards the crime boss.

"So, you're they guy we're after, huh? I thought you'd be taller." Vanitas said. He had his hands on his hips, not bothering to bring out his weapon.

The crime boss smiled back at him. "And I didn't think that an official magic guild would send a child to do their fighting." He said.

Vanitas chuckled in response. "Well, I guess I am, kind of, sixteen. Guess you'd make that mistake." He then clicked his fingers, a wave of black energy shooting out of him and causing objects that got hit by it, such as stones, paper and shards of the crate Natsu was in, to float into the air. The dark warrior looked at the Lacrima user with stone eyes.

"That's their downfall." He simply said.

The floating objects were launched at Lacri-Mack, bouncing harmlessly off of what was left of the shield. When they were all used up, Vanitas jumped into the air and shot towards him with his right foot sticking out. The crime boss was unable to handle, this, the shield shattered and he was sent flying as he was hit with the force of ten ballistic missiles. Vanitas teleported away from him, returning to wear he was originally standing.

"Is that it?" Vanitas asked.

"You're a lot stronger than you let on before." Came a voice behind him.

Vanitas, Natsu and Lisanna all turned to see Gajeel and Happy. The cat shot towards Natsu, saying how worried he was. Natsu managed to calm him down and, much to the cat's surprise, Lisanna let him rest on her head.

"You really love cat's, don't you?" Vanitas asked.

Lisanna nodded. "They're the best animals ever!" she said.

Vanitas was going to say something, but his sixth sense for danger immediately flared, causing him to ready his unarmed battle stance.

"Uh, what's up man?" Natsu asked.

He received his answer in the form of a ball of white energy coming their way from where Lacri-Mack was standing. Vanitas summoned his Keyblade and defended himself from the attack, using the side of the blade as a shield. It worked, but he was blown back a couple of feet, crashing into Lisanna. They both fell into the ground, which caused Lisanna to immediately kick him off with a grumpy expression on her face.

"Hey, watch it!" she said, sounding irritated.

"Don't blame me." Vanitas said, his gaze still focused on where the attack came from.

Lacri-Mack immediately appeared. He was covered in ash, his cloak was torn, but he didn't seem injured.

"That was a mistake… boy." He said, sounding much more serious.

"Like I give a damn." Vanitas responded. He readied his battle stance. "You want to go another round?" he asked.

As soon as he asked, a loud roar could be heard from within the cave. Lisanna and Happy were looking slightly nervous, but the rest of the group seemed more curious than worried.

"Guess someone else is mad." Natsu said. He then placed a hand on his stomach. "Hang on. Did I have something to eat today?" he asked himself out loud.

"Do you seriously think that's your stomach?" Gajeel asked.

"Well, he's got a big appetite. But that wasn't your stomach, Natsu." Vanitas said.

"What was it then?" he asked.

Immediately, something large shot out from the ground. It seemed to be the size of the guild hall, causing the group to quickly move backwards to avoid getting hit. When the tremors created had faded. Vanitas managed to focus his view on what exactly they were now facing. For the first time in a while, he was in complete disbelief. The rest of the group screamed out loud with shock.

The creature was in fact a large snake. It had spikes all across its back, all of them seeming like razor sharp swords. Its black scales seemed to shift colour in different places, as if it was a black cloud floating over it. The creature's red, fierce eyes focused on the group, its pupils narrowing. It opened its mouth, baring fangs that seemed too large and sharp to be in there, but the creature didn't seem to care.

Vanitas gave the creature a brief whistle before speaking. "Now that's a monster." He turned back to the group and gave them a smile. "LET'S RUN FOR IT!" he said, before shooting a wall it a fireball, making an exit for them to escape through.

"WHAT!? I WANT TO FIGHT THAT THING!" Natsu said. He was about to run towards it, but he was immediately pulled back by, surprisingly, Gajeel.

"Now's not the time to fight. We need more room to fight and… if he's running, we should be scared." Gajeel said, pointing towards Vanitas.

Natsu was hesitant to move at first, nut he saw Lisanna and Happy, both giving him pleading looks. Before he could respond, the creature shot its head forward, hoping to strike the group. However, its face hit a familiar pink barrier instead.

"C'mon!" Vanitas said.

The rest of the group looked at each other for a moment before following after Vanitas. The snake pulled its head back and turned towards Lacri-Mack.

"After them, that barrier should only be active here, go up to the surface." The crime boss said.

The creature looked up and dug its way up through the ceiling, hoping to try and catch them out. Lacri-Mack looked at the creature go up as the thought to himself " _He was wrong. The darkness user will easily fall to me."_

… _._

The creature and the group made it back up to the surface, apparently being a desert area. The group saw the creature ran for their lives. Happy started flying as Lisanna morphed her arms into wings as she followed happy into the air.

Gajeel turned to Natsu as he ran. "YOU DIDN'T TELL ME WE'D BE DEALING WITH THIS!" he said.

Sweat started pouring down Natsu's face as he put as much effort as he could into his running. "WE DIDN'T KNOW! THE CLIENTS NEVER TOLD US!" he managed to say.

Vanitas, who was ahead of the two slightly, turned back to them and grinned. "TO BE FAIR, I DOUBT ANYONE WOULD TAKE THE JOB IF THEY KNEW THOSE GUYS HAD THAT THING CAGED UP AND READY TO GO!" he said. He set his eyes back in front of him, wanting to make sure he didn't fall on his face. He quickly looked back up at Happy and Lisanna, both of whom were looking quite scared.

Vanitas tried to formulate a plan as he ran. He had one idea, but he knew that the rest of the group would kill him even after he succeeded (except for Gajeel, perhaps). He looked back up at their winged allies.

"Hey, you guys pick up Gajeel and Natsu, I have an idea." He exclaimed.

Lisanna looked down at him. "What idea?"

Vanitas gave her a small grin. "You'll see. C'mon, pick them up!" he said.

The two flying members came down. Happy grabbed onto Natsu while Lisanna morphed her feet into large bird's feet, using them to pick up Gajeel by the arms. They all flew high up into the sky. When Vanitas was sure that they were high enough, he summoned his Keyblade and shot a beam into the distance. The beam hit the sand, which caused a pink beam to shoot upwards at a certain height before it started to widen, curving around and trapping a great deal of the desert in it. What was also trapped was Vanitas and the snake.

Everyone else looked down at what was going on. "The idiot, he tried making a trap for the snake but got caught in it. Hold on, we're coming to save you!" Natsu said, with Happy in full agreement. They fired themselves towards their ally, only to be hit with an invisible portion of the barrier.

Gajeel looked confused. "What's going on?" he asked.

Lisanna was confused at first, but then, much to her horror, realised what was going on. "He's not trying to slow down the snake." She said, causing Gajeel to look up at her, as well as Happy and Natsu after they peeled their faces off the barrier.

"He's going to try and fight it." She said.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!" Happy and Natsu roared simultaneously. Gajeel narrowed his eyes towards the Keyblade wielder.

"That kid's as stupid as he's strong." He said.

…

Vanitas face the creature with his Keyblade in hand. The creature didn't seem fazed by what had happened. In fact, it seemed happy to see its prey trap itself. The creature launched its head towards Vanitas. He was prepared, and jumped high into the air, avoiding the creature. Vanitas quickly scanned the creature before making his move. He teleported onto its back, holding his weapon as high as he could before plunging it into the creature's skin, caising the scales to crack like damaged armour. Before the creature could even react, Vanitas pulled out his weapon and teleported right in front of its face.

The creature widened its mouth, revealing its fangs. Vanitas took the opportunity and slashed the Keyblade horizontally, creating a wave of dark energy that zoomed towards the creature's fangs, slicing them clean off in the process. He wave soon faded away as it completely went through the fangs. In response, the creature once again launched its head at Vanitas, which he blocked with the guard of his weapon. He was fired backwards, but he teleported and appeared right behind the creature, the momentum of getting hit still present as he soared towards the creature.

He pointed his Keyblade towards the creature, the tip directly aimed for one of its eyes. The weapon soon hit home, causing black smoke to come out of the eye instead of blood. The creature tried to shake him off, but Vanitas wouldn't move an inch. It opened its mouth again, as if it was screaming in agony. Vanitas saw his opportunity and leapt back into the air leaving his Keyblade in the creature's eye. With as much energy as he could muster, he summoned ice in one hand and darkness in the other. He smashed the two elements together and, with all his might, threw it into the creature's open mouth. As it went down the creatures throat, the desired effect took place.

The ice caused the creature to be completely encased in ice, as the dark energy began to absorb the dark energy in the creature, rendering it weak and more vulnerable to the ice.

Vanitas landed back onto the ground. He clicked his fingers and his Keyblade returned to him. He held the weapon with both his hands. He held it to one side, preparing a technique he had done only once before. He closed his eyes to focus for a moment to concentrate. They then snapped open, looking directly at the creature. He zoomed at the creature with great speed, slicing through the creature. He landed on the other side, the Keyblade raised high into the air. He lowered it, returned to standing normally and clicked his fingers. The creature was immediately shattered into millions of ice shards. He allowed himself a small smile as he guessed what would happen next.

As the barrier faded, he turned around to see Lacri-Mack standing opposite to him, fury written all over his face.

"How dare you… That creature was my own creation!" he said.

"I can tell, it shattered like glass easily." Vanitas responded. He then pointed the Keyblade directly at the Lacrima user's face. "Now, you want to surrender, or would you prefer that I show you what I'm made of as well." He then asked.

The crime boss was at a loss for words. He stayed motionless for a moment before he fell to his needs in defeat.

"I… I surrender."

…..

It turns out that they were transported to a desert not too far away from Magnolia, the criminal leader having set up the base not to long after robbing the museum. They managed to call the city guard who took him into custody. One of the guards informed them that they were grateful for their help and told them that they would ensure the reward would be delivered to them.

Vanitas laughed for a bit, knowing that Gajeel would want it soon. He closed his eyes and stretched his muscles; when he opened them, he saw Lisanna and Natsu standing directly in fron to of him.

"That was incredibly senseless, you know that?" Lisanna asked.

"How come you hogged all the fun?" Natsu asked, clearly irritated.

Vanitas raised his arms in defence. "I just wanted to get the job done as quickly as possible. Besides, I got to see that all those training sessions are paying off."

Natsu hesitated for a moment. "Alright, I'll let you off this once, but don't do that again." He said.

"Okay Natsu, I'll be sure to trap you in a barrier with a giant monster so that you can beat it senseless yourself." Vanitas said.

Natsu gave him a big smile. "That's all I'm asking for."

"What's wrong with you two?" Lisanna asked.

Happy soon interjected. "Hey, I just realised something!"

The group looked at him with curiosity.

"We didn't get to bring out an Organization XIII member." He said.

Natsu immediately slumped. Vanitas put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a supportive grin.

"Don't worry about it. I'm pretty worn out from fighting that snake, so it's just as well no one came." He said. Immediately, Lisanna began to look worried, afraid that he might just jinx himself.

"How about we head back to the guild for some fish. My tre-" before Vanitas could continue, a beam of bright, red energy shot out from his chest, just above where his heart was. He looked down at the blade before quickly losing both energy and consciousness. The beam was pulled out, causing Vanitas to collapse to the ground.

The rest of the group looked at him in horror. As he fell, they saw a man in a familiar black coat, holding that beam like a sword. It disappeared quickly as the figure gave a small chuckle.

Lisanna was the first to speak. "What… what's going on?" she asked.

The figure then summoned a beam in each hand and, under his hood, stared at the group.

"You need not fear. You will be joining him very soon."

 **[And that's that for this chapter. It seems that Vanitas has been taken out, and the rest of the group are left to fight for themselves. No guesses as to who is responsible. Let's hope they make it out soon. By the way, just to let you know, I'm going to be writing another story soon, something I came up with a while ago. It won't mean I'll be stopping this story, just adding a couple more to the mix. Anyway, see you later, and don't forget to review.]**


	11. The Full Story

Natsu, Lisanna, Gajeel and Happy were unable to move. They were still in shock at what had happened. A second ago, their friend had been standing, smiling away, talking about celebrating their victory at having managed to bring in a dangerous criminal. However, he was now lying on the ground, a burning hole in his chest barely breathing.

And the person responsible was standing over him, staring at the rest of the group.

"Vanitas. I believed that you had great potential. Instead, you prove to me that you were not worth creating." The figure said.

He looked to the rest of the group. He focused more on Natsu who, unlike the rest of the group, was recovered from his shock, and showing his rage at the cloaked figure.

"You… you… YOU MONSTER!" Natsu roared as suddenly became covered in raging flames. "When I'm done with you, there won't be anything to bury!"

Filled with pure rage, Natsu rushed forward, pouring as much of his flames as he could into his right fist, ready to turn his opponent into ash. He roared before yelling at the top of his voice " **FIRE DRAGON IRON FIST!** ". When his fist hit figure, the built-up fire in his fist flew forward, engulfing Natsu's target. As the flames managed to singe a number of areas on the figure's coat, the enemy made a swift move. He covered himself in a sphere of unfamiliar energy, rendering him invulnerable to Natsu's attack and helping him move at a blinding speed away from the attack. The sphere faded soon after.

The figure shook his head. "While true, in more ways than you know… I'm afraid I have no time to deal with you pests at the moment." He said. He lowered his hood, revealing his face to the group.

Natsu immediately recognised that there was something familiar about this person. Not so much his appearance though; it was his power. He could tell that it was a similar power he had seen the corrupt museum owner use, but this was much stronger. Also, it didn't feel like any kind of magic he had seen before.

"What the heck are you?" Natsu asked.

"You may have heard of me. My name is Xemnas." The figure said.

Natsu recognised the name, Demy having told him, Vanitas and Makarov about him briefly.

"Xehanort's lackey, right?" Natsu said.

Xemnas didn't appear amused. He raised his arms up slightly and summoned red-orange beams of energy, reaching the length of a sword's blade. He readied himself, speeding forward and started spinning, creating a trail of energy from the blades of energy. Natsu rolled to his right side, just managing to avoid the attack. He was about to attack with another iron fist when Xemnas deactivated his blades, speeding backwards as he quickly lowered himself, sticking his right leg out as he spun around. This attack managed to strike Natsu, sending him flying.

Xemnas returned to his normal stance, watching as the salamander flew high into the air. He noticed too late when he heard a strong gust of wind come his way. He looked to the source only to see a whirlwind of iron shards come his way.

" **IRON DRAGON ROAR!** " Gajeel roared as his attack made its way towards his target.

Xemnas raised his hands up towards Gajeel. "GUARD!" he yelled, creating a perfectly square barrier of energy, projecting him from the attack. As the cloud faded, he saw Gajeel rush towards him with a raised fist. He landed the attack on the barrier; whatever power formed it proved to be harmful as it shocked Gajeel the moment his fist made contact. As he was pushed back, the barrier faded. Xemnas used that time to zoom forward, twirling backwards with his blades sticking out, striking Gajeel like a buzz-saw. Gajeel was also sent flying, but this time Xemnas quickly vanished, reappearing underneath an air born Gajeel, striking him from underneath with his blades outstretched as he spun in the air.

Xemnas vanished again, reappearing over Gajeel, stomping a foot onto his foot, causing to rocket back to the ground. The resulting impact created a shockwave that sent Lisanna, Happy and Vanitas flying backwards. Lisanna tried to help Vanitas, but was unable to fight the shockwave.

Xemnas reappeared on the ground. He took a moment to look at Vanitas, soon deciding to make his way over to him.

"OH, NO YOU DON'T!" came Natsu's voice from above.

Xemnas looked up, seeing Natsu with his arms outstretched. He spoke as his arms were soon ignited.

"The flames of my right hand. The flames of my left. Put them together-" he let out a deafening roar as he combined the flames, creating an enormous sphere of flames.

" **FIRE DRAGON BRILLIANT FLAME!** " he threw the sphere directly at Xemnas. He was briefly blinded by the light from the attack, preventing him from manoeuvring in time and he ended up taking the full force of the attack. As it hit him, it created a more powerful impact that force Xemnas into the ground.

When the attack had faded, Xemnas rose back up. He was clearly injured, but he disregarded the wounds, thinking of them as mild inconveniences. He gave Natsu a glare of steel.

"Your flames will not be enough to save you, wizard." He said.

Natsu gave him a cocky smile. "Well, good thing it's not just flames you're up against." He said, confidence flooding from his voice.

Xemnas was confused at first, up until he heard a scream from behind him. He turned in time to see Lisanna flying towards him with bird wings for arms. She head-butted him the stomach, sending him flying. She then morphed into her cat-form, which she used to rush towards Xemnas, grabbing his legs and pulling him back. She pulled back a paw, which she then used to swipe at Xemnas, cutting him deeply in the chest; it was soon followed by her raising a leg in the air and bringing her foot down onto his face. As he was once again implanted into the ground, she took a step back. The three fighters of the group all looked at their opponent.

"Man, what's up with this guy?" Gajeel asked.

"It's like he's not human." Lisanna stated.

Natsu heaved slightly before giving his input. "You're not too far off, actually."

The other two were confused by this. However, as they were distracted, Xemnas vanished from the ground. They saw this and looked around to where he had gone.

"Can you spare… a heart?" Xemnas asked.

The group looked upwards, seeing Xemnas building up energy around him. When he was finished, he fired three beams of energy, each one striking Natsu, Lisanna and Gajeel respectively. As the energy bound them, they all screamed in pain as the energy shocked them throughout their body. The longer the beam kept them bound, the more they could feel themselves fading away.

"C'mon… guys. We gotta… get free!" Natsu said.

Xemnas heard what he said and shook his head slowly, a small smile appearing on his face.

"If you truly think you can win now, then it seems you are quite disillusioned. Who can save you now, since your friend has fallen and I have trapped you all?"

Natsu gave Xemnas another cocky smile. "Not all of us." He stated.

Xemnas frowned in confusion, unsure of what he meant. Then, all of a sudden, he heard a strong gust of wind, then the sound of a jet-fighter plane coming his way. He looked behind him and managed to see an angry, blue cat slam into his face

"MAX SPEED!" Happy yelled, putting all he had into the collision. While it didn't knock Xemnas out, it caused him to lose concentration, destroying the beams that trapped the other members. Natsu took the opportunity and leapt high into the air, before turning around mid air and coating hids right foot in flames, bringing it down on Xemnas' head.

" **FIRE DRAGON CLAW!** " he roared as the attack landed. Xemnas was sent flying away from the group. As Natsu landed, he looked to Happy, who was lying on the ground, exhausted from having used so much power. Natsu knelt to him, rubbed his head and gave him a thumbs up.

"Thanks, pal." Natsu said.

"Aye." Happy replied. Exhaustion soon took over and he fell asleep.

Natsu stood back up and turned to Lisanna and Gajeel, both of whom still seemed to still be recovering from Xemnas' last attack.

"How are you still standing?" Gajeel asked.

Natsu shrugged his shoulders in response, which caused Gajeel to become more irritated. Natsu then remembered Vanitas. He turned to where he was lying but, much to everyone's shock-

He was gone.

"WHERE THE HECK DID HE GO!?" Natsu asked out loud, causing Lisanna to jump and Gajeel to cover his ears from the noise.

"That is what I would like to know, as well." Came a voice.

The group turned and saw a familiar sphere of energy speed towards them, stopping twenty feet from them.

"Man, you just don't quit, do you?" Lisanna asked, readying herself for combat again.

"I could say the same for you all." Xemnas replied, building up a ball of blue energy in his hand. "It seems that you are more powerful than I first believed. My apologies. I will be sure not to underestimate you again." He continued before firing the energy from his hand.

The group readied a defensive stance, thinking they could take the hit. However, before the energy struck, someone appeared in front of them and sliced the ball directly down the middle, sending the two halves to either side of him. He didn't even look up as the halves exploded behind them.

When the dust built up from the movement faded, everyone was amazed to see who was standing before them.

A fully recovered Vanitas.

"Vanitas… you're okay." Natsu and Lisanna said simultaneously.

"How ARE you okay?" Gajeel asked.

Vanitas looked behind him, a smile forming on his face as he looked at his jacket. On either side of the unversed symbol on the back, a black circle appeared, as well as an even smaller, red, circle within.

The Fairy Tail group screamed when they realised what it was, with Natsu voicing his thoughts. "YOU'RE WEARING ONE OF THOSE THINGS!?"

Vanitas gave him a small chuckle. "Well, I've gotten better at being able to shape the unversed as I see fit. The blade went through me, but it cracked open a few healing potions I had on me, helping me recover." He explained.

He looked down at his own shirt, seeing a hole where the Ethereal Blade penetrated. He then looked up at Xemnas with a steely frown.

"I liked that shirt." He said plainly.

Xemnas' face immediately morphed into anger, dark energy building up around him.

"You fool. Do you really think you can defeat me with that pathetic creature?" he asked.

Vanitas clicked his fingers and the jacket unversed disappeared, reverting him to his previous look.

"Well, maybe not… but I know what creature can help me." He said. He lifted his weapon into the air before plunging the tip into the ground. He then focused as a dark aura began to build up around him. After a few seconds, a split-second image of Vanitas in his mask and body suit appeared. It appeared a few more times before the image remained. It then moved to Vanitas' right side in the same pose as Vanitas. As it began to properly materialise, the colour scheme of the suit changed. All that was either navy or black began a raven coloured, while everything red soon turned pure white. The mask had part of the aura surrounding it before the symbol of the unversed appeared.

As soon as it was completely summoned, Vanitas collapsed.

"Vanitas!" Lisanna cried. They ran to him, afraid that he was hurt again. Vanitas assured them that he was fine, informing them that he tired himself out creating their new ally. They all stared at the figure, unsure of what to make of it.

"Idiot." Xemnas said. "How much of your being did you put into creating that Spector of yourself? If you leave out for too long, you will vanish."

Vanitas grinned while everyone else formed looks of grave concern.

"Better not leave it out too long, then." He said. He looked at his dark shadow. "Take him down."

The copy summoned the Void Gear Keyblade, following the same colour scheme as the suit. The clone then zoomed around Xemnas, stopping after making a full 360 degrees, and jumped into the air as dark spikes emerged from the trail of dark energy it left behind, coming together like jaws snapping their mouth shut, while chewing on Xemnas. Feeling a great amount of pain from the attack, he collapsed. The clone then rose his Keyblade into the sky and summoned a massive ray of energy, striking him and turning his weapon into a giant sword. He swung it once, striking Xemnas with full force, before teleporting behind him and spinning vertically through the air, bringing the enlarged blade on his opponents head. To finish him off, he leapt backwards, converted the energy in the blade into a giant "X" into the sky and let it fly towards Xemnas, going straight through him. While it didn't show, he had been severely injured from the attack.

As he struggled to get up, he looked upon the clone again before looking over at Vanitas, giving him a hateful stare.

"What… are… you?" Xemnas asked.

The clone quickly became covered in dark energy, fading away into nothing and causing a similar aura to appear briefly around Vanitas, signalling that his power has returned to him. He stood up on his feet and grinned slightly before replying.

"I'm a guy that's just that good." He said.

Natsu and Lisanna laughed a bit at his reply while Gajeel shook his head. Vanitas brought back his Keyblade, which the clone had loaned, and pointed it towards Xemnas. He then built up an orb of silver energy before shooting it towards their fallen adversary.

"Stopaga." Vanitas simply said.

The energy flew towards Xemnas. Had it hit, Xemnas would've been frozen in time and would make it easier to bring him in for questioning. However, just before the spell hit, a familiar shard of energy, shaped like an arrow, flew by and destroyed the spell.

The Fairy Tail group were alarmed by this and turned to where the arrow came from. Standing before them was another figure in the black coat of Organization XIII. Natsu and Vanitas recognised him as the guy from the museum that shot Demy while he was Demyx. They all readied themselves, Lisanna, Natsu and Gajeel all hoping to take him down themselves since Vanitas managed to defeat, not one, but two of them now.

"You leave this guy to us." Lisanna said.

"Don't think for a second we're going to let you beat them all yourself." Natsu said.

Vanitas was about to reply when the figure in question suddenly vanished, reappearing behind the group. He leaned over and said "You'll need to be quick."

He vanished again as the group turned around, just about to strike as they heard him. He then reappeared beside Xemnas. The latter looked up at his savior with a hateful expression.

"I told you to stay out of this, Xigbar." Xemnas said.

The hidden figure, now known as Xigbar, lowered his hood, revealing him to be the man in the eye-patch who was observing Vanitas from before.

Xigbar grinned. "Well, I don't answer to you anymore. The boss said you just had to get the target and leave, what's keeping you?"

Xemnas turned his glare back to the group, focusing his attention on one of them in particular.

"The former apprentice is stronger than you described. His allies are no small feat either." Xemnas admitted.

"Really? Wow, the kids come a long way." Xigbar said. He then summoned his weapons. His arrow-guns were impressive. Where the handle was, was a circular guard on the top, four spikes sticking out like a cross, all of the relatively short, except for one that acted as the barrel for the gun. Underneath it were a collection of spikes shaped like the arrows, gathered together like a small wing, showing where the ammunition would gather for his weapon.

"Well, it's a shame we don't have more time. I'd like to test out the other guys myself." He said. He then raised the gun in his right hand, pointing at one of the members. The member he was pointing at-

Was Lisanna.

"Just hand over the girl and we'll leave you guys alone. Deal?" Xigbar gave the group a sinister smile and merciless eyes.

Natsu was the first to snap in an instant. He rushed towards the two enemies with his fists ignited. Before Xigbar could react, he received a flaming fist to his nose, burning it in the process. He was sent flying and had landed on his back soon after.

Natsu had a calm face, but his eyes were now cold and steel.

"You won't even lay a finger on my friend, bub. You just made the biggest mistake of your life." The flames around Natsu were burning strongly; they became more intense by the second as his anger fuelled his power.

Vanitas smiled. "You ever want to win a fight, just make him angry." He said to himself. He walked forward to the enemies. "Xemnas, why are you guys after Lisanna? Also, the guy that was kidnapping those girls here, did you hire him?"

Xemnas rose to his feet. "Years ago, the "X-Blade" was forged after it had been destroyed an era ago. However, as you know, it was an unstable model. Because there wasn't enough light or darkness to make a stable version, thus, it was destroyed. We need more pure lights and pure darkness's if we wish to succeed."

Xemnas clicked his fingers. A silver energy stared to build up around him. The wounds around him started to heal at a slow rate. The Fairy Tail group were amazed at shocked at this, readying themselves for another potential fight.

"We have our eyes set on specific targets already… but we have opted to creating back-up candidates; a contingency plan is always required in a war." He continued.

Vanitas was confused. They were planning on creating pure lights and darkness's. However, it suddenly clicked when he remembered something. It was a memory of seeing Ventus for the first ime, after Vanitas himself was extracted from Ventus. The process shattered Ventus' heart, turning him into a mindless shell, slowly dying from his heart having suffered incredible damage. If it wasn't for the other heart's intervention, he would've died.

Vanitas bared and gritted his teeth before building up a ball of fire in his hand. "Are you guys out of your minds? That process will do nothing but kill them before you get the chance before you can use them. The only reason Ventus survived was because-"

"Even broken hearts can touch each other." Xemnas interrupted.

Vanitas suddenly felt fear in every part of his body. However, it soon turned into rage. He looked at the ball of flame in his hand. He considered throwing it at the Nobodies, but he came up with another idea. He fired the ball at Natsu's face. When it impacted, Natsu wasted no time in eating up all the flames.

When he was finished, he looked at Vanitas and gave him an appreciative grin. "Thanks man." He said.

Vanitas nodded. He looked back at the enemies. They looked unfazed by what they saw, but Xigbar spoke up. "Nice parlour trick. You learn that in the circus?"

Natsu immediately lost his temper, flames covering his form.

"You've got a reeal short temper, haven't you?" Vanitas asked.

"Heh. Well, as fun as this has been, we're going to need the girl." Xigbar said.

Vanitas looked at them with a side-ways glance. He had a blank expression on his face. He suddenly vanished. He reappeared behind the two organization member, both of whom looked like they were in agonizing pain.

"Too slow." Vanitas said.

The two coated enemies fell to their knees. They slowly looked behind them, seeing a face of pure rage on the dark warrior's face.

"You've made the biggest mistake of your lives. Not only have you made an enemy of me…" suddenly, an aura of dark energy erupted from around Vanitas.

" **WHEN YOU TO HURT AND MAKE AN ENEMY OF ONE OF US, YOU MAKE AN ENEMY OF EVERYONE IN FAIRY TAIL! WE'RE NOT GOING TO LET YOU LEAVE HERE ALIVE!** " Vanitas finished.

The two organization members looked at the group in front of them, all of whom had the same look of anger on their faces. Getting back onto their feet, a corridor of darkness appeared behind them both.

"We will be sure to keep that in mind. Your former master won't be pleased." Xemnas said.

Vanitas lashed out at them with his weapon, but they were already after passing through the corridor. Vanitas ended up flying through the remains of the corridor, landing on the ground close to his friends. Natsu helped him back onto his feet.

"Thanks." Vanitas said.

"Don't mention it." Natsu said. He then paused for a moment before saying something else. "Hey… Vanitas?"

"Hmm?" Vanitas looked at Natsu, placing his hands in his pocket.

"By any chance… is Xehanort the master you had that taught you how to fight?" he asked.

Vanitas froze. He had hoped to keep that part of his life a secret from the rest of the group, now that they knew that he was the one who was now causing them trouble. Struggling to get the answer out at first, he took in a deep breath he answered "Yes… and I'll never forgive him for it."

"What do you mean?" asked Happy, who had just woken up. Lisanna picked him up and cradled him in her arms.

"The thing is… Xehanort used to be a good man. But he later became so obsessed with studying darkness, how to control and harness it… he became another one of its pawns. Later, when he heard about the "X-blade", the most powerful Keyblade in existence, we tried everything in his power to re-create it." Vanitas explained.

"Re-create?" Gajeel asked.

"A war broke out between Keyblade wielders many years ago for the "X-blade", and in turn, the most powerful light in existence. The end of it resulted in their deaths and the destruction of the weapon. Guess it wasn't as powerful as they believed." He continued, adding a small laugh into the end of it.

"What does that have to do with you?" Lisanna asked.

Vanitas looked down at the ground for a moment before continuing. "Xehanort took in a pupil of his own, before me, and tried to get him to unleash the power of darkness in his heart, which he hoped would create the weapon because he had a strong light in his heart as well. It didn't work. So instead, he extracted the darkness from his heart, severely damaging it… and creating me."

To say that the group were shocked could be an understatement. They looked at him with astonishment for a moment, unsure of what to say.

"What happened then?" Natsu asked, breaking the silence.

"Years later, Ventus managed to recover and trained under an old friend of Xehanort who wasn't aware of his agenda. I continued to train under Xehanort and became a heartless killing machine; I went through with his plan, cutting down anyone who got in my way." Vanitas explained.

A lone tear streamed down her face. She was doing her best to supress the emotions she felt from hearing this.

Vanitas looked to her. "You okay?" he asked.

She was silent for a moment before speaking. "Why… why did you do that? You were willing to kill people for ideals that weren't your own. You didn't care if people got hurt."

Her face suddenly changed into that of pure anger as she was now roaring at him. "WHY DID YOU LET YOUSELF BECOME A MONSTER!?"

Vanitas continued to stare at her, but with a cold, spine chilling glare. "Because I was broken." He answered.

Natsu, Happy and Gajeel were surprised, but Lisanna's expression didn't change.

"One of the many downsides of being made of pure darkness is that it can corrupt you more easily. The more I tried to resist the dark thought s coming into my mind, the more it tried to corrupt me. It went on for so long I actually started to feel true, physical pain from that battle." He looked to one side and summoned one of the flood Unversed.

"It was that negativity that created the Unversed. When they started appearing, I lashed out at them and destroyed them, hoping the effort would lessen my anguish. But it had the opposite effect. Whenever an Unversed is destroyed, I feel their pain as if it were my own. Every time I destroyed one, I felt their pain, and the dark thoughts became stronger. In hindsight, I should've stopped attacking them… but I was younger, vulnerable and didn't know what else to do. So I kept going. It went on forever… until I finally broke from it. It all became too much, the pain was unbearable. I just… I just wanted to die."

This caused everyone in the group to gasp in shock.

Vanitas looked into the sky. "And Xehanort… he just stood by, letting me destroy myself. By the time I was broken, only then did he step in, convincing me that the only wat to feel free from this was to join back with my lighter half."

Natsu curled his fingers of both hands into fists, veins visible on both of them as he tried to supress his anger. He sighed before saying on what was on his mind. "Did you do it… I mean, you know… make the "X-blade"?" he asked.

"Yeah, but I was defeated, and the "X-blade was destroyed it me. I had joined with Ventus again, creating a complete version on the outside, but a broken version within our combined hearts. He defeated me on the inside, while his friends took down the form that had been created on the outside. It turned out the weapon was unstable, and was obliterated when I lost."

"So, now you're free, right? You joined up with him, so-"

"That was a lie." Vanitas interrupted.

Natsu looked at him confused. "What?"

"Xehanort lied about the darkness ceasing to corrupt me after I re-joined with Ventus. I still feel them trying to gnaw at me, tear me to pieces from the inside. It's a tough battle still, but I think I'm getting better at it. I even managed to supress it for a little bit.

"Seriously?" Happy asked, his face filled with concern. "Then how is it still hurting you now?"

Vanitas nodded, "Because I had to let it. It was this that has been helping me create the Unversed. I'm willing to let myself suffer through the pain again if it means protecting you all stopping that man once. And. For. All." He said.

The whole group, especially Lisanna, all couldn't belief what they heard. He has been fighting a silent war, having to deal with his own darkness trying to destroy him. Now he's letting himself go through it all over again, not just for his revenge, but for them as well.

In that instant, Lisanna immediately regretted yelling at Vanitas, covering her mouth as she remembered her harsh words.

"Didn't know you had that big a burden on your back, kid." Gajeel said.

"Wish you would've told us sooner, we would've tried to help." Natsu said.

"If you're on about the darkness, it can't be helped, it's a part of me and always will be. There's no stopping it. Besides, your already helping me stop Xehanort's plans for here, that's more than enough." Vanitas replied.

"Well it's not enough for us." Natsu then stated, surprising Vanitas.

If you think we're going to let you get away from keeping something like this a secret from us, then you're dead wrong. As punishment, you're going to let us help find a wat to help you get out of this situation of yours." Natsu then ignited his fists again. "And if you say no, I'll fry your ass." He finished.

Vanitas was silent for a moment. Then his cheeks puffed up, seemingly trying to hold back a fit of laughter. He calmed himself down before saying "Like you can hit me." He said.

Natsu launched his flaming fist at Vanitas, who teleported behind him and brought down a fist onto Natsu's head, slamming him into the ground.

"Lu… lucky hit." He said as his eyes were spinning.

Happy flew from Lisanna's arms and landed right beside Natsu. "You know it's not smart to challenge him to a fight, Natsu." Happy stated/

"Yeah… I forgot." Natsu replied.

Vanitas shook his head with a smile on his face. He looked back at Lisanna and Gajeel, the former laughing her head off while Gajeel shook his head like Vanitas.

He turned back to Natsu and helped him back onto his feet. "Well, we didn't get them this time, but at least we know what they're planning. We'll get them next time, right?"

They all nodded. Vanitas looked back towards the city of Magnolia. He was amazed that Lacri-Mack's base was not too far away from the city, it made it easier for them.

"Alright, let's go home, I'm hungry." Natsu said.

"Aye, me too." Came Happy.

"Do you guys ever think of anything other than-" before Gajeel could finish, his stomach rumbled loudly, causing the salamander and the cat to laugh their heads off. He glared at them briefly, but soon let the matter drop.

"I could use some grub too." Lisanna said. She then turned to Vanitas. "What about you?" she asked.

Vanitas wasn't looking at her, but he knew she was talking to him. "Wouldn't mind something. Let's get going." He said. They soon started walking back to the city, all thinking about what they would eat when they get home.

"Hey, guys, do you think we could invite Derek to come eat with us?" Happy asked.

"Not a bad idea." Natsu said. "Any objections?"

"Naw, it's fine." Gajeel said, who was more focused on food at the moment.

"That sound's great!" Lisanna answered.

"No problems here." Vanitas answered. "I can probably get the chance to ask about that demon that's been following him around."

This caused everyone, save for Vanitas, to stop in their tracks. Vanitas looked back at them with confusion as they appeared shocked.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"What do you mean when you say a demon's been following him?" Gajeel asked.

Vanitas smiled. "Oh, right, I forgot to tell you. A fire demon, I think it's the fire demon king, Ifrit, has been following him. I could see him transferring his power into Derek. I would've said something, but it turns out he isn't much of a threat."

Everyone looked at him dead-panned faces and sweat-drops when he said that. Seeing their confusion he explained.

"The guy has been subtly training the guy to be a Demonslayer." He said.

" **WHAAAAAAAAAAAT!** " they all roared.

 **[And there you go, another chapter finished. Sorry I'm cutting it here, but I'm planning on switching POV's and I already wrote a lot here in this chapter. Anyway, I thought it was about time Vanitas opened up to his friends about his past a bit more, it'd be better for them to know, after all. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, and if you did or not, please leave a review, and don't be shy about what you say, I won't mind. See you all later]**

 **[Also, if you're interested, I posted a new story based on Rosario + Vampire, in case anyone is interested. If not, then never mind. Bye]**


	12. Lethal Lessons and Transformations

"You've got to be… kidding me." Derek said as he pulled himself off the ground.

After Derek revealed to the guild that he was a Demonslayer wizard, they were overjoyed, half the reason being that it helped to increase their reputation even further, but also because Demon slaying magic was still a new concept to them and were curious to see more of it.

Gray has been sparring with Derek so as to help him improve his skills and learn some new spells. After training with him for a while, Gray could tell that he was an exceptional hand-to-hand fighter, coating his hands and feet with the crimson flames to add to his strength. He was also able to eat fire, as was common with slayer-type mages. However, that was as far as he could go.

Every time they sparred, they would be evenly matched (as Derek could melt Gray's ice=make attacks easily) until Gray started using his Ice demon magic. Then, he would be able to take him down in an instant.

After what must have been their ninth sparring match of the day, Gray decided that they should take a break.

"Oh, c'mon, I nearly had you. One more round." Derek pleaded.

"Sorry, I can't, I've got a job to do tomorrow and I need to get some rest, it's an early start." Gray explained.

Derek was about to protest, but he paused, deciding it would be better not to. Instead, he sat cross-legged and folded his arms, a look of annoyance on his face.

Gray chuckled at his behaviour. "You a bit of a hot-head too?" he asked.

Derek was silent for a moment before answering. "No… at least, I don't think so." He sighed. He looked up into the sky. "I just feel like I'm getting nowhere. What am I doing wrong?"

Gray sat down beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's probably best not to focus on rushing with this kind of power, Derek. We're talking demonic magic here." He pointed out.

This caught Derek's interest.

"When I first got the magic, I found that I was starting to lose control. Because it was given to me from another mage before he… he passed on, I never got much info on how to control it properly. I was lucky enough to talk to Porlyusica when I started losing control, but if she wasn't there I could've been corrupted. Just take it slow, and you'll reach great heights."

With that, Gray stood up, said he'd see him later, and headed back home. Derek continued to sit down and thought about his powers.

" _Can this power really corrupt me… if I'm not careful?"_ he thought to himself.

As he pondered on the thought, he began to wonder if any mage would be afraid of his abilities when they start off. It could be a scary experience for some, especially if their magic just came out of the blue one day.

He shook his head, trying to get the thoughts out of his mind. " _Quit doubting yourself! You're only going to make things worse for yourself otherwise."_

He lifted a hand into the air and ignited it. "I'm going to master this power… and I won't doubt myself again." He said to himself. He extinguished the flames and turned around, heading back to the guild.

However, he heard someone chuckling behind him. He turned around, seeing nothing there. This confused him greatly. He continued to walk on.

" _That was weird. Was there really someone there?"_ he wondered.

" **By your definition, I would be classified as something.** "

Derek immediately froze. He turned around, igniting his fists, taking a defensive stance.

"Who's there? Where are you?" he demanded.

" **Can't you see me?** " asked the voice again.

Derek looked around the area he was in, unsure of where the creature was. While scared at first, he was now becoming more annoyed rather than frightened.

"Alright, now I'm mad, show me where you are or I'll fry you when I find you!" Derek stated.

The demonic voice chuckled.

At this point, Derek was fed up with this. He was about to call it quits, thinking he was simply overworked from his sparring matches with Gray, when his nose caught the scent of something. He sniffed it a couple of times more, causing his head to lift up and see where the voice was coming from.

"Ooooh!" he said when he saw the owner of the voice.

The speaker was actually the demon from the other night, only his outline showing however. Derek shook his head with frustration.

"For god's sake, you again? What the heck do you want!?" he asked.

As if to answer his question, the invisible interior of the demon started to fill in, showing navy horns, red fur, dark skin and a werewolf-like body. Derek's eyes were immediately widened when he saw the creature, who was producing an incredible amount of heat from his body without having to ignite any flame.

" **Do you truly wish to know?** " the creature asked.

"Uh… yeah." Derek replied, unsure of what to make of the giant creature.

It stood up on its hind legs, looking directly down at the Demonslayer. " **You have been given the power of a true fire demon, my power, and have had to live with it since you were born.** " As he spoke, orange and crimson flames alike were starting to build up around him.

" **It is time for you to learn how to use this power to its fullest potential.** " The creature said. With that, the creature fired the flames directly at Derek. Derek's initial reaction was to eat the flames. He managed to consume the orange flames easily enough, but when he tried to eat the crimson flames, he had a different reaction.

After he shoved them down his throat, he felt them wanting to come back out. Unable to hold it in, he immediately spat them back out at the creature. It blocked the regurgitated flames easily enough.

" **First lesson, not every flame is edible. A number of them will have an aspect to them which will render you unable to absorb their energy.** " The creature said.

Derek had finished coughing out the remnants of the flame when the creature was finished speaking. He looked up at the demon.

"Okay… thanks. What's lesson two?" he asked, though immediately regretting it.

The demon immediately conjured another ball of flame. He grasped it, causing it to change shape, elongating into a staff; the top spurted out a large flame, which also morphed into the head of a spear.

" **As a Demonslayer, you have complete control over flame as a weapon. Whether it be firing it, shaping it, extinguishing it. To show you this, you will catch this flame, shape it into a weapon of your choosing, and then defeat me in a fight**."

"WHAT!? HOLD ON, I DIDN'T MEAN FOR YOU TO-" Before Derek could say anymore, the flaming spear was shooting towards him. Reacting out of instinct, he held out his hands and grabbed the head of the spear, the force of the impact causing Derek to slide backwards at quite a distance. When he stopped, he saw the the creature slowly coming towards him.

" _Is his slowness being some sort of curiosity? Cause if so… thank you!"_ Derek thought, feeling incredibly lucky that he has time. He looked at the spear, wandering what to do with it. He needed to think of a good weapon to use against that thing, but the problem was that he only knew how to fight hand-to-hand. He was stuck for ideas.

As the creature got closer, Derek could see flames building up around it, and were growing in intensity.

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh, crap, oh crap, oh CRAP!" he kept saying to himself. Suddenly, as if by some miracle, he knew what to do with the spear flame. With all his might, he focused all his thoughts into the spear, causing it to lose shape and increase in intensity. The newly empowered flames began to encase him, covering him completely.

The creature held out its hands, allowing his claws to grow longer and become sharper.

" **Your time is up.** " It said as it rushed forward. It stretched out its claws as it pounced towards at its target. However, when his claws collided with the flames, all they did was bounce off. The creature backed away, unsure of what had happened.

His question was answered when the flames suddenly vanished. From them, came Derek with his crimson hair, eyes and black marks covering his face and neck. His shirt had been burnt off in the process, revealing the top half of his back and his shoulders also bore the marks.

He looked down at his right hand and looked at the shield of flames he created.

" **A shield? Clearly you have a lot to learn.** " The creature said as it conjured a number of fire balls at him.

However, as each projectile reached him, Derek pressed the back of the shield against his forearm and started slashing the projectiles into pieces with the edge of his shield. When they were all taken care of, he jumped up as high into the air as he could and rocketed towards the creature. The front of the shield smashed into the creature's face, causing him to skid backwards.

Derek then back-stepped and rolled forward into its legs. With all his might, he slashed at the legs with the edge of the shield, managing to dig into the creature's hind legs. It winced, but it showed no sign of defeat yet.

It raised both its claws up into the air, swiping at the wizard underneath. Derek rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding the creature's lethal claws that would've certainly skewered him.

When he was a safe distance the creature stopped. It paused for a moment before curling up into a ball. Confused, Derek took a step back from the creature. As soon as he did, though, the creature leapt up high into the air. Mid-air, it generated two spheres of flames in its hands. After building up enough, it threw the sphere's down. They flew around each other as they zoomed towards the wizard. Upon impact, the spheres exploded, creating a pillar of flame that sent Derek flying high into the air.

The creature then built up another fireball right up against its mouth. After there was enough energy, it released the ball of fire, sending the attack straight towards Derek while the creature flew backwards. The fireball intensified the pillar Derek was trapped in. When the creature landed, it pulled out a large chunk out of the ground and threw it directly at Derek. Upon impact, the pillar exploded. Creating a blinding flash of light.

When it faded, Derek had disappeared from where he was. The creature looked around, expecting the wizard to come from above and from his sides. Not being able to sense him, it lowered his guard.

" **What a waste.** " The creature said.

However, its ears perked up when he hear the sound of something moving. It was too feint, so he couldn't tell where it was coming from. The sound began to become louder with each passing second. It was only a second too late when he realised where the sound was coming from.

Derek rocketed out of the ground, flames becoming more intense and brighter. He gave the creature an uppercut to its jaw, sending it as high as he could. Derek let himself fall back to the ground, not losing focus on the fire demon that was now high above him.

An idea quickly formed. He focused on his remaining energy, allowing it to flow around his body. His crimson fire soon changed, becoming a brighter, scarlet shade. As he looked up at the demon, he roared as his power increased. Then, he yelled-

" **FIRE DEMON RAAAAGE!** "

With that, an eruption of fire shot out of his mouth. The flames, travelling at top speeds with the force of a ballistic missile, struck the demon mid-air. The flames were harmless against it, but it wasn't able to handle the force behind the attack, causing it to bellow in pain. As the flames engulfed the creature, Derek took advantage of the situation. Remembering the creature's earlier words, he took control of the flames now around the creature.

He got the flames to act like a long rope and had him bound. With as much force as he could, he commanded the flames to bring the creature back down to earth. With as much force as Derek's previous attack, the creature came down like a meteor, creating a massive crater.

When the flames surrounding the creature faded, Derek saw the creature lying motionless within the crater. Left without any energy left to support him, he collapsed to his knees. He was breathing heavily as he was sweating. He looked at the creature with a triumphant look on his face.

"Guess I'm too hot to handle, huh?" he said with a smirk.

However, the moment had faded when the creature started to twitch. Derek tried to move, but he was already worn out from the fight. The creature, however, was able to get back up. Derek saw the injuries he managed to inflict upon it slowly start to heal.

"You've got to be kidding me." He said.

When the creature stood at full height, it motioned its hands, covering Derek in flames. However, instead of causing harm, which Derek suspected, the flames seeped into his wounds, helping him heal and regain his energy. When he had fully recovered, he jumped onto his feet. He ignited his hands, but the demon raised its hands, telling him to ceasefire.

"Was that supposed to be a pun?" he asked.

The demon ignored the comment. " **You have learned everything I wish to teach you. It is up to you now, to learn more of what you can do.** " The creature said.

"You seriously think I'm going to let you get away with trying to beat me into a crispy pulp?" Derek asked, his anger reflected in the flames now covering his body.

Instead of answering, the creature engulfed itself in hellish flames, saying one last sentence that startled the wizard greatly.

" **Don't think that you can talk back to me, Ifrit… king of the fire demons.** " It said. With that, the creature vanished.

Derek looked at where it had been standing for a moment longer before lying onto his back, his Demonslayer form vanishing. He chuckled to himself.

"Well… that was something." He said to himself.

After another moment of silence, he heard something come up behind him. He craned is head up behind him and saw Mirajane, surprisingly, run up to where he was.

"Mirajane?" he asked.

"DEREK! ARE YOU OKAY!?" she yelled, worry written on her face. She lid to the ground and knelt by Derek. She place a hand on his forehead, but he took it off.

"Relax, Mirajane. I'm okay. I just had some things to take care of." He said.

"They must've been pretty big things, we could see bright lights and hear battle noises from back at the guild. We all rushed over here as quickly as we could." She raised.

Derek raised an eyebrow at her. "We?"

With that, he heard the sound of multiple footsteps from where Mirajane had come from. He looked back and saw Gray, Wendy, Erza, Lucy and Elfman running towards them. They all stopped a foot away from them.

"What happened here?" Erza asked, her voice now much more demanding.

"If you were planning on having fun, you should gotten me to stay." Gray said.

"Are you hurt? I can help heal your wounds." Wendy said.

Lucy looked around the area, There were craters and scorch marks everywhere. "That must've been some fight." She said. She looked back to their newest recruit. "What was going on here?" she asked.

Derek got back onto his feet. He brushed himself off before he gave the group a smile.

"I'm pretty sure I bet a real life demon in a one on one match." He said.

This answer was met with silence for a brief moment before the other members said-

"Whaaaa?"

Derek fought back an oncoming chuckle. He explained how a demon popped out of nowhere after Gray left and tried to kill him. However, he also told them how it was giving him tips mid-fight.

"Why would he do that?" Wendy asked.

"What kind of man gives his opponent the edge in a fight on purpose?" Elfman asked.

Before Derek could answer though, they all heard someone whistling behind them. They all turned and found, non-other, than Natsu, Happy, Lisanna, Vanitas and Gajeel.

"Guys, you're back!" Lucy said. Gray then stepped in "You'll never guess what happened here." He stated.

"Ifrit was giving our little Demonslayer an extra-curricular lesson." Gajeel answered.

Derek's brow was immediately raised. "You knew about that? Wait, what do you mean by LITTLE!?"

Vanitas stepped in. "Ifrit, king of the fire demons, and one of the few from his kind to give humanity a helping hand, wherever they may need it. Heard about him when I was learning how to use my Keyblade." He answered.

Natsu punched Vanitas in the shoulder. "We've got ourselves a little know-at-all, ain't that cute." Natsu said. He laughed out loud for a little bit before Vanitas hit him so hard on the top of the head that he sank into the ground.

"Quiet you." Vanitas said.

"Aye, sir." Natsu said, his eyes now spinning.

"Aw no, now he's doing it with Vanitas?" Lucy said out loud.

Vanitas looked at Derek again. "What exactly did he go over?" he asked.

Derek hesitated for a moment before answering. "He, uh, basically thought me how to channel my powers and how to fight with them. On the basic level, anyway. He tried to kill me during the lesson though." He said.

"Yeah, I guessed it. Demons are harsh teachers." Vanitas said. He then started to look quite serious. "It's just as well, your getting better. We've got a problem." He said.

"What kind of problem?" Erza asked.

"We found out who's been kidnapping hose girls. My old master and the organization he set up to help him with his plans." Vanitas said.

"Seriously?" Wendy asked.

"It's like Hades all over again." Lucy muttered under her breath.

Vanitas heard her. "Who?" he asked.

"Fairy Tail's second Guild Master. He went bad after he left and went on some kind of journey to find the origin of magic. Didn't end well." Gray explained.

"But what does your master want with those girls?" Erza asked.

Vanitas stayed silent for a moment before answering that question. "He's trying to make them into beings of pure light so that he can re-create a weapon too powerful to let exist. The thing is though, those girls are back-ups for his real target."

Vanitas noticed Lucy balling her hands into fists; they soon started to shake as she put more pressure on them.

"That guy is no man at all!" Elfman said out loud.

"Wait, Vanitas." Wendy said. He turned to her. "How does he turn them into pure lights?" she asked.

"By extracting the darkness from their hearts. The result… it damages it near beyond repair. I'm surprised they're all still alive by now." Vanitas answered, causing everyone to look horrified.

"He'd go that far… willing to kill them… who would do that?" Mirajane asked. She struggled to hold back her tears, Elfman and Lisanna were by her side quickly enough.

"A man that's too far gone to care about anyone or anything, only caring about the end result." Vanitas said.

"What is he looking to get out of it?" Erza asked.

"A war." The dark warrior stated.

That small statement caused everyone to freeze, except for Natsu, whose look of determination became much more serious.

"A war, huh? Sounds a little cliché to me." Natsu admitted.

"True, but this war is basically a re-do of the first Keyblade war, the first one causing the universe to fall into darkness." Vanitas said back.

"Keyblade war? You mean people with your abilities waged war on each other?" Derek asked.

Vanitas gave him a nod. "Yep. They all died, caused the universe to die out and we thought that it was all over." He then raised his hands up to his face, holding up all the digits of his left hand, and two on his right. "But, surprisingly enough, while the darkness struck hard, it couldn't reach the hearts of seven kids, whose light was strong enough to repel the darkness and rebuild the universe."

"Wooooah." Natsu and Happy said, their eyes as wide as saucer plates as they listened to Vanitas.

"Wait, why doesn't he go after them, then? I mean, if they still exist." Gray asked.

"They do, he did, he was stopped. By another Keyblade wielder. This guy, however, was pretty different compared to other Keyblade wielders. Starting off, he lacked the ability to use the Keyblade, having to rely on another's power." He said as he looked up into the sky. "But in the end… he proved to be the worthiest of them all." He said.

Happy flew up into the air, landing on Vanitas' head, annoying him slightly.

"Hey!" he yelled at the cat.

"Why don't we ask him for help? He sounds like a pretty awesome guy." Happy said.

"He's pretty strong, but he's spread thin trying to protect the main sources of light and fighting the organization." Vanitas said, lifting Happy off his head. "The best thing for us to do is end their operations here. Once they get the message, the won't come back."

The guild was silent for a moment, feeling rather crest-fallen for not being able to do more. Natsu slumped to the ground and began pouting.

"This sucks." Natsu complained.

"Natsu, this job is just as important. If we don't stop them now, they're going to have the upper hand in this war." Vanitas pointed out. He then turned to the rest of the group. "Anyone else on board? If so, say-"

"AYE!" Happy interrupted. Vanitas smirked before looking to the rest of the group. "Yeah, that."

As soon as he finished, everyone present roared at the top of their lungs "AAAYYE!" their fists were all raised high into the air. Natsu stood up on his feet and smashed his fists together, creating a small burst of flame.

Do you have to ask?" Natsu said, his eyes practically coated with flames themselves.

Vanitas smiled, summoning his Keyblade.

"Looks like we're all fired up." He said.

…..

A couple of hours after their declaration of ending the organizations plan, they were all asleep in their respective homes. They were keen on starting to search for them as soon as possible, but Vanitas convinced them it would be better to start with a fresh head to think with. Everyone, save two people, from the guild were fast asleep, some dreaming of victory while others worried about events to come.

One of the members awake was Lucy. She stayed awake, unable to sleep as Vanitas' story rung through her head. They had faced many threats before, from the dark guilds to the evil dragon, Achnalogia, himself. However… there was something about this fight to come that had her more worried than ever before.

Even after everything they faced, what Vanitas said just seemed too unreal, too… out of this world. The fact that a single man was plotting to destroy the universe a second time, creating a war that will kill so many people.

"Why do we have to keep doing this? Why do we have to keep fighting war after war?" she said to herself. Her head hung low as she began wallowing in despair.

"When will it all end?"

….

The other member who was still awake was Derek. He was relaxing on the beach, enjoying the sight of the clear, starry night. He liked to look at the sky on clear nights. To him, the stars were like shining beads of wisdom, staring down at them, watching humanity and all living things as they succeeded, failed, triumphed of fell.

Despite his demeanour, he was actually an inquisitive kind of person, always wanting to learn more about, life, death and existence itself, why it is and how it could all end.

However, after hearing about Vanitas' master, he began to wonder if it was a good thing to think so much about life. It seemed that having too much knowledge can be a bad thing. The big question, much to his concern, how much was too much.

He soon heard footsteps above him. He sat up and looked up to see Vanitas coming his way. He noticed a change in his outfit, mainly his red and black shirt replaced with a grey t-shirt and a sports jacket.

"What happened to your shirt?" Derek asked.

"It got damaged in a fight I was in during the job I was on." Vanitas said.

"Fair enough." Derek said while shrugging his shoulders. He then lied back onto the ground. Vanitas walked up to him and sat back down beside him. After a moment of silence, Vanitas asked "What is he like?"

Derek looked back at him, confused. "Who?"

"The feral flee-bag." Vanitas answered.

Derek sat up again. "He's pretty vicious. I think he's preparing me for something." he said..

"I only know the creature itself by legend, but it's supposed to the best of the best. If he's wanting to train you on how to use that power, listen to him." He looked back at Derek. "He taught you how to fight with your power, right?"

"Yeah… not the most pleasant session though." Derek answered.

"The best methods never are." Vanitas said back.

They both continued to stare into the sky for a moment before Vanitas spoke again.

"How strong do you think you are now?" he asked.

"Way stronger than when you first met me, to be honest." Derek answered.

Vanitas sighed. "In that case…" Vanitas rose up from the sand and walked towards the ocean. After getting a fair distance from Derek, he turned around, summoned his Keyblade and threw it up high into the sky.

It stopped in mid-air. The weapon began to separate. The blade of the weapon off completely, the guard of the weapon separated from the bottom completely. The wing-shaped pieces began to grow in size, upon finishing, they looked like real bat wings. They flew back towards Vanitas, the handle, which they were still attached to, slammed into Vanitas' back. The blade of the weapon fell down quite quickly. The teeth separated from the weapon as the blade itself began to stretch out. It zoomed towards Vanitas, wrapping itself like a piece of rope and securing the wings onto Vanitas. The teeth of the weapon attached itself to the handle on the back, which now acted like the spine of the wings, acting like a defence spike.

When the transformation was complete, Vanitas stood up straight with a pair of large, bat wings, every inch of them looking as sharp as a laser. Derek looked at Vanitas in awe.

"Woah… you look like a demon yourself. What, you looking to fight, you don't even have a-" before Derek could finish, Vanitas' hands became coated in a dark aura, spreading along his fingers, the aura covering them extending. When they were finished, They looked like claws.

Derek stared for a moment before he started pouting. "Show-off." He muttered.

"I need to see…" Vanitas said, his face completely blank.

"Okay… see what?" Derek asked.

"Show me how strong you are. If I'm right, you may be the one to turn the tides against the organization. But first, you need to become strong." Vanitas answered.

Derek looked at him in bewilderment for a moment, but his expression changed to that of a look of determination, sporting a cocky smile to go with it. "Alright then. Time to show you what I've got." He said calmly.

He quickly changed into his Demonslayer form, igniting his hands. However, this time they began to change shape, each hand becoming large claws. When they were finished forming, they were five times the size of Derek's hands, the fire forming them burning more brightly than before.

" **Fire demon raging claw**." Derek said, his look not changing in the slightest.

Vanitas smirked. "Show-off."

With that, the two warriors rushed towards each other, Derek with his claws outstretched while Vanitas' wings glowed bright purple.

With that, their duel had begun.

 **[Alright, that's enough for this chapter. Sorry for taking so long, I started another story "Hellfire Vampire" and I'm trying to do both stories at the same time. It's slightly more difficult for me than I thought it would be, but I enjoy writing them both all the same. Also, in case anyone asks, I thought that it would be cool to add Keyblade transformations into the story, and the idea for the "Shadow Wings" (if you have a better suggestion for a name, don't be shy) have been going through my mind for a while now. Now that I'm having Vanitas use them again Derek's new Demon power, I hope to make it interesting. Anyway, I won't bore you any longer. See you all later and enjoy your day everyone]**

 **[p.s. thanks for all the reviews, you were all a big part in helping me get this far, so far]**


	13. Vanitas vs Derek

**[Hi everyone, hope everyone's well. Sorry this chapter took so long, but with the work I'm doing for the other story I'm writing, it's biting into my time for Fairy Tail: Dark void, sorry about that. Anyway, here's another chapter for viewing, and I hope you all enjoy it.]**

Vanitas, now armed with Wings of shadow made from his Keyblade, as well as talons on his hands formed from dark energy zoomed towards Derek, who had conjured flames and shaped them into massive, and fearsome, looking claws. They both were flying towards each other, looking like hunters ready for the kill.

When they were close enough, they swiped their respective claws at each other. However, instead of causing damage to each other, they ended up grabbing each other and putting themselves into hand-locks. They both landed their feet onto the ground and ended up trying to push each other down. As neither opponent seemed to be progressing in this game of mercy, they both pulled their heads back and head-butted each other, creating a shockwave that spread out fifty feet.

"Ready to give up yet?" Derek asked as his head was still in contact with Vanitas'.

"The enemy won't back down… so I won't either." Vanitas said. He was trying to be serious, but he couldn't help but smile all the same.

They both tried to push each other still, but seeing how they weren't making any progress, Vanitas turned the tables. He teleported out of view, causing Derek to stumble forward from the force he was putting into trying to push back Vanitas.

As he rolled onto his back, he saw Vanitas high up in the sky, his wings flapping in the air. Derek quickly rolled back onto his feet, watching as the dark warrior readied himself and flew towards the Demonslayer. Derek simply grinned and ran towards Vanitas. When he felt he was close enough, he leapt into the air and morphed his claws into a shield, riding the item like a skateboard.

He rolled vertically, zooming towards Vanitas. The two ended up flying past each other, but Derek had pushed his shield down onto the wing. He didn't succeed in striking the wing with enough force, but he seemed to rather slide o the wing, causing sparks as he slid by.

As Vanitas was closer to the ground, he barrel-rolled a couple of times before spinning vertically and regaining his balance. He looked up to the Demonslayer, deciding on his next move. He charged up more dark energy, but instead of building it up in his hands, he sent it into his wings. When he charged up enough, he whirled from side to side, making sure the wings were gaining more momentum. It wasn't long before he shot the energy from his wings, each blast shaped like a wing as it spun like a boomerang towards Derek.

Derek widened his eyes at this. "Alright! Now we're talking!"

He pulled the shield apart with his hands as he morphed them back into claws. As the attacks came his way, he used his claws to swat away the attacks. Not wanting to be outdone so easily, Vanitas started increasing the speed of the attacks, causing wings to fire at Derek with grater velocity. Vanitas smirked as he saw it was starting to become too much for the Demonslayer.

Derek tried to think of a solution, knowing he couldn't deflect the projectiles for long. Then, all of a sudden, his mind clicked into gear and thought of a solution. With a quick forward spin, he fired a power blaze from his hands, sending him flying towards Vanitas. As a wing came to him, Derek flipped and placed a foot on a wing, using it as a springboard to reach Vanitas more quickly. When he was close enough, he brought his claws together and formed them into a huge ball of fire. He leaned back before he threw the sphere directly at Vanitas.

" **FIRE DEMON INFERNO!** " Derek roared as the attack struck Vanitas, creating a huge pillar of fire that seemed to engulf him. Derek landed back onto the ground with a roll, a smile forming on his face. It quickly faded, however, when the flames faded and saw the wings had been used as a shield against the scorching blast. The wings spread out again, revealing an untouched Vanitas.

"Derek took the opportunity to strike, covering his hands and feet with flames again and leapt high into the air. Vanitas brought up a wing in defence, just as Derek predicted. With his vision blocked, Derek extinguished his flames and landed on the wing with his hands, spinning around and striking Vanitas with his foot in where his neck met his torso. The force was enough to send Vanitas into the sand.

Derek quickly backed away as he observed his handiwork. He allowed himself a smirk. "I said before, and I'll say it again. I'm too hot to handle." He said with confidence.

"Don't get cocky." Vanitas said. He fired up from the ground, allowing the wings to spread as he twirled mid-air and came back down. Derek wasn't sure what Vanitas was aiming to do, until he saw the wings were sharpened.

"Oh crap!" he exclaimed as he performed a dodge roll, narrowly avoiding decapitation from Vanitas' wings. Vanitas flew back towards Derek, flying with one wing pointing towards the sky whle the other sliced through the ground like butter. Derek saw this and built up a ball of flame in his hand. When he had enough, he through it into the sand, causing an explosion large enough to sen all the sand around him to fly into the air, obscuring him. With his vision blocked, Vanitas wasn'r sure what to expect, so he quickly changed out of his wings and reverted the weapon back to its original form before he could fly into the cloud.

Derek suddenly burst form the cloud, a flaming fist aimed for Vanitas' head. Vanitas held up the guard in defence, causing Derek's hand to rebound off. He used the momentum to to spin in the opposite direction, hoping to strike Vanitas with an elbow in the side. However, Vanitas blocked it with the blade of the weapon's flat side. Derek then spun around a couple of times before sending an ignited foot towards Vanitas' face, who narrowly dodged it by performing a cartwheel to the side.

Twirling the Keyblade in his hands a couple of times, he coated his Keyblade in ice before thrusting the weapon at his opponent's head. Derek side-stepped to his left, allowing Vanitas to spin around and swing his weapon at Derek. The Demonslayer ignited his flames and caught the weapon with his bare hands; the flame acted as a shield against the blade as well as melting the ice around the Oblivion.

Vanitas released the weapon and briskly spun around and struck Derek in the stomach, releasing his grip on the weapon and sending him flying through the air. Clicking his fingers, Vanitas summoned back his Keyblade and through his Keyblade directly at Derek.

Seeing the weapon, he fired a number of fireballs at it. They were all sliced into two and the Keyblade hadn't lost any momentum. He constructed another shield and readied himself for the attack.

However, before the Keyblade struck him, Vanitas teleported behind him and kicked him in the centre of the back, breaking Derek's defence and, much to his good fortune, only receiving the guard to his forehead as he was sent spinning back onto the ground.

As Vanitas landed, Derek stood back up, unfazed by the attack. He brushed himself gently as he stared at Vanitas. "You don't go down easy, do you?" he asked.

Vanitas smirked. "I don't like losing."

Derek readied himself as he built up a large amount of fire in his mouth. Realizing what he was about to do, Vanitas summoned three dark crystals and channelled their power into the tip of his Keyblade.

" **FIRE DEMON RAGE!** " Derek roared as the breath attack was rocketing towards Vanitas.

"DARK CANNON!" Vanitas yelled as he fired off the energy towards Derek.

Their attacks met in the middle, creating another strong shockwave and an incredibly blinding light. As they both kept their streams of energy flowing, they both fought to overpower the other. They were so caught up in trying to prove their strengths, they didn't notice that too much energy was building up in the centre. After a few more seconds, the centre began to glow and suddenly explode, sending more sand high into the sky. Derek was sent flying into the air while Vanitas slid across the sand, his Keyblade digging into the ground. He looked up as Derek unleashed a large burst of flame that engulfed the sand around him. When the light faded, Vanitas saw that the fire blast caused the large concentration of sand to solidify ito glass, turning it into a magnificent glass sculptor. When it landed back onto the ground, surprisingly not breaking, Vanitas saw Derek sitting on top of his, lying back lazily as he was admiring his nails. He then looked over at Vanitas.

"Look at that, I'm quite the artist, don't you think?" Derek asked Vanitas sarcastically.

Vanitas readied himself. "Not bad, but this is a sparring match, not an art-off." He said.

Derek's eyes widened at this, remembering how Vanitas almost killed him a number of times already, he couldn't understand how he could say it was just a sparring match. Realising he lost his focus, he looked back to where Vanitas was standing, only to see that he was gone. He sprang back onto his feet, looking around wildly. He wasn't sure where Vanitas could've been… until a thought occurred to him. He looked up, firing as many fireballs into the air as possible. When he was finished, he saw that Vanitas wasn't there.

Derek gritted his teeth. "Where've you gone?" he asked.

Upon asking that question, he then heard the sculptor start to crack. First it was once, then two at a time and so on until the structure was blasted into a million pieces from the inside. Derek was sent flying into the air, looking down to see Vanitas Flying towards him with his Keyblade spinning in front of his hand, creating an energy barrier shaped like a drill.

"DARK SPIRAL!" he yelled.

"OH, COME OOON!" Derek yelled. Derek created a small stream of fire in each hand, , shaping them into longswords. " **Fire demon Flaming Fang!** " he said as he pointed both swords downwards and span vertically, coming down to Vanitas like a buzz-saw. As they collided, they pushed at each other, neither wanting to give up.

Derek, in the end, was the first to stop. He quickly moved to the side, allowing Vanitas to fly through. Before he got too far, though, Derek grabbed onto one of his legs and brought him closer, giving him an uppercut to his chin, disorienting him briefly. Derek used the opportunity to fling him back onto the ground. The impact was close to earth shattering, causing Vanitas to lose his breath. As he laid on the ground, he saw Derek building up more energy for another attack. He ignite both his fists and fired himself towards Vanitas, creating a trail of enormous flames behind him.

Vanitas smiled as he saw Derek make his way to him. He closed his eyes as he waited for the impact, feeling the heat growing more intense as Derek got closer.

"Now you've got it." Vanitas said. Instead of defending himself, he dematerialised his Keyblade and stood casually with his hands in his pockets and looked up at Derek with a calm smile. Derek, however, decided not to hold back in his attack.

" _I get what he's doing. He's trying to teach me not to hold back in a fight._ " He thought. Then something occurred to him. " _Is he really afraid of these guys?_ " He brought himself back into reality as he readied for the big finish. The flames engulfed his body as they formed into the shape of a large, malevolent beast.

It looked near identical to Ifrit.

" **TRY THIS! FIRE DEMON… DEMOLITION!** " He roared.

The flames melted out of shape as they fired towards Vanitas, striking him and striking the ground around him, a seventy feet radius, causing a pillar of flame shooting up from the ground as a result. When the flames dispersed, Derek was standing in the centre, and Vanitas was gone.

Derek looked around, wondering where he could've gone too. He began to look concerned, thinking he might've hurt Vanitas. His worry for him was quickly replaced by worry for himself when he felt something sharp press up against his neck. His eyes dropped down and recognised the blade of the Oblivion.

"Well done in not holding back against the enemy, but you can't let your guard down in a real fight. They won't hesitate to turn you into a corpse." Vanitas lowered his weapon. Derek turned around and saw Vanitas covered in ash, some parts of his clothes also burnt in a couple of areas. The dark warrior place a hand on Derek's shoulder.

"Don't give them that chance." Vanitas said.

The calm way he spoke, as well as the grim expression on his face, caused him to shiver from the sight and gulp. He slowly nodded in understanding. Vanitas gave him a friendly smile and brought his hand down to his side.

"Good. Now, I've still got a bit of energy to burn, so I'll be here burning it off." Vanitas said, stretching his muscles.

"I feel like I should be saying that?" Derek asked, his expression becoming more calm and happy. He looked around, seeing multiple burnt areas and glass shards littered around the area.

"Do you think we should clean this up? I don't think the town'll be happy we turned the beach into a war zone and not bothered to clean up after it."

Vanitas stopped stretching and looked around the area, nodding to himself. "Yep, you've got a good point." He said. He then turned to Derek and chuckled lightly. "If the other members were as conscious as you, the rest of the country wouldn't be angry with them."

Derek shrugged his shoulders, thinking that it may or not be the case, then started to walk off towards one of the damaged areas when he came to a halt. He spun on one heal as he looked at Vanitas, raising a hand up and smiling.

"How about, to stave off the boredom, we make a bet to see ho can collect the most glass?" Derek suggested.

Vanitas nodded at his idea with a mischievous look on his face. "Winner has to do one thing the loser says." He said.

"Deal!" Derek said, not hearing what Vanitas said, and got to work on collecting as many shards as he could.

Vanitas just chuckled at his companion, mainly at his inability to listen. The then decided to get to work, picking up a couple of shards in different places, making sure he didn't collect to much.

…

Makarov wasn't able to go to sleep. After he heard about Natsu's plan to lure out the organization, he nearly had a heart attack. He knew Natsu could be reckless could be, his behaviour causing more destruction than he felt he himself could handle, but the fact that he was putting himself and his guild mates in danger like that… what was he thinking?

He sat up straight in his bed, shaking his head. What scared him most was how he heard Vanitas was severely wounded. He was able to withstand many harsh things since he first met Fairy Tail, heck, he had completed a century quest in an instant. After that, and what he heard from Demy, he was now a little bit more worried.

He looked to his wheel chair, clicked his fingers and it caused the wheelchair to wheel towards him. He managed to seat himself in the chair, as he was becoming a lot more adapt with it the more he uses it. Granted, he was getting some treatment from Porlyusica so that he could use his legs again, but, truth be told, he still felt more comfortable in the chair.

"I think I'll get something to eat." He said to himself. He wheeled himself out of the room he was staying in. He had actually been living in the guild more often than not as of late. It was actually pretty nice, easy access to food, drink behind the bar, and could keep an eye out for any intruders.

"Oh, this is going to be great. I still have some of that cake Mirajane had baked the other day. This is going to be swee…" Makarov said, pausing as he saw something quite surprising.

It was Lucy, sleeping with her head on the bar counter.

"What the heck?" he asked himself. He wheeled over to her, reached out and shook her awake. She was slow to arise from her slumber, but when she did, she looked around, unsure of where she was at first. Her eyes then caught sight of the master, causing her eyes to widen in surprise.

"Master? What're you doing here?" she asked.

"I live here now, remember?" Makarov asked with a raised eyebrow.

Lucy then looked a bit bashful as she remembered that piece of information. "Sorry." She said.

"Ah, no need to apologise. Have you been drinking, by the way?" he asked. The girl looked at him with a confused look. "I'm told you're very emotional when you're drunk."

"That's Juvia." Lucy said.

Makarov raised his head and mouthed the word "Oh" in realisation. The silly look on the master's face caused Lucy to laugh, while Makarov laughed at his own foolishness as well. After a minute or so, they quietened down. Makarov adjusted how he was sitting in the chair before he spoke again.

"So, what's got you down?" he asked.

Lucy's happy domineer quickly morphed into a slightly saddened look. She turned back towards the counter and stared at the surface.

"It's just… why does this always happen?" she asked.

Makarov looked back at her in confusion. "Why does what always happen?"

Lucy planted her face in the hands. "Why is it that there is always something wanting to cause us harm? Why can't it just stop? Why can't they just leave us all alone and live in peace?" he pulled her face out of her hands and let it hang, her hands resting on the counter. "Haven't we earned that?"

Makarov's expression was blank as he listened to Lucy, taking in all her words. When she finished, he took in a deep breath and exhaled, thinking about what to say next.

However, before he could say anything, the doors to the guild hall burst open, with a chuckling Vanitas and a crying Derek. Lucy and Makarov looked at them, their faces clearly showing how confused they were. They looked at each other briefly before regarding the two who had just entered.

"Are you guys okay?" Lucy asked.

Derek calmed himself down a little bit as he attempted to explain what had happened. "Vanitas and I had a fight… AND I WOOON!" he managed to say before he broke back down into tears. Lucy and Makarov were now very confused. Vanitas saw their confusion and decided to give a more detailed explanation.

"You see, we had a sparring match, mainly because I wanted to see how strong he was, so… I'm sorry, just give me a minute." He said before he started chuckling again. When he calmed down, he started speaking again. "Ha, ha… after the fight, we made a big mess. We decided to clean it up, making a bet with each other to add interest to the thing."

"What was the bet, exactly?" Makarov asked.

"That the person who collected the most debris would have to do one thing the loser says." Vanitas stated.

"What? Shouldn't the loser be told what to do?" Lucy asked, the confusing situation bringing her out of her mood.

"Derek agreed to the terms before he actually registered what I said. Which, in turn, taught him a very important lesson."

"NEVER TO MAKE BETS WITH YOU!" Derek yelled.

Vanitas paused for a moment before continuing. "True… but the lesson I'm talking about involves staying sharp in any situation. If you don't, things can go south for you in seconds. Whether it be in a fight, or if you're agreeing to a crazy wager like that."

"You can be pretty mean sometimes. You know that, right?" Derek asked.

"You got that right. You should've seen him in that bar fight a while back." Lucy said.

Vanitas suddenly groaned with annoyance. "Don't remind me of that." He said.

She suddenly began laughing. Makarov saw this, relieved to see that she was in a much better mood. A thought suddenly occurred to him, looking back at Vanitas.

"Why were you two fighting at this hour, anyway?" he asked.

"Like I said, I wanted to see how strong he was… and because I wanted to see what the fire demon Ifrit saw in him."

"Is it really that important?" Derek asked, coming out of his despair after hearing Vanitas' second reason. He then thought of something, causing him to yell out in annoyance. "Hey! Are you saying that you didn't think much of me?"

Vanitas shook his head. "No. I could tell that you were strong. True, you had difficulty using your abilities at first, but that didn't matter much at the time." He paused for a moment as he put a hand on his chin and rested the arm of that hand on his other arm.

"What concerns me is that Ifrit, while he does help out the humans from time to time, has never trained a person directly in how to use their power." He looked up at Derek with a proud smile. "I think he saw something in you, something that can help solve our little issue."

Vanitas' feint reference to the organization dampened Lucy's spirits again slightly, not unnoticed by Vanitas, who turned to her with a friendly smile. "You okay?"

Lucy looked at him and gave him a sad smile, shrugging her shoulders. "Well… I guess… it's just that we've faced loads of threats before. I thought after Achnalogia… we wouldn't have to deal with this kind of stuff anymore. Now we're having to risk our lives again. It's not fair."

Her honest answer widened Vanitas' eyes, surprising him because he didn't know Lucy was having such a hard time, but he also felt guilty because Xehanort and his organization was his problem, yet people who had nothing to do with his plans and twisted ideals were getting caught in the crossfire. He placed a hand over his face and let it slide off as he processed what she said.

"Life isn't fair, Lucy." Derek said from behind them all.

They all turned to see him, recovered from his fit of crying, looking at Lucy with a small smirk, showing understanding and confidence. "The fact of life is that nothing can always go our way. I know it's hard, I mean, I knew a guy who never got to know his parents, his mother dying a couple of weeks after he was born and his dad dying in an accident a few months later. He had to grow up without his family, and he shouldn't have happened to him either."

He adjusted the way he was sitting before continuing. "Life can be a cruel thing… but it can also be great. You may have to constantly fight against powerful foes, but at least you can help to bring happy faces to the people of the world, helping to make a difference."

Vanitas nodded in agreement. "He's got a point. Thanks to you guys, everyone was finally able to live in peace. Don't tell me you don't feel happy for making sure they can live life without living in fear."

Lucy pondered on what he said. She and the guild had helped to make a difference, help save many innocent people. She wouldn't take that back for the world. She shook her head. "Of course not." She said with a small smile.

"Glad to hear it. While I'm at it, actually, you guys have faced Armageddon more times than you can count, and you still managed to make it through. Heck, you went up against a dragon that had more power than a GOD and still won. There is nothing, and I mean NOTHING, you guys can't handle." He said.

"From what I heard, you guys tend to come out of it with a smile on your faces all the same." Derek said with a massive grin of his own. "That's something, right?"

Lucy thought back on all the adventures she had. No matter how many adventures they had, no matter the difficulty, they would always win out, all of them smiling after making their way out of the darkness.

"As long as you have your family with you, Lucy, no matter the situation, your family will always be with you to help you out of the darkness… and back into the light. So never worry about it my child." Makarov said with a serious, but caring, expression.

Derek quickly walked up to Vanitas, his hands interlocked behind his head. Lucy looked back at them all, a genuine smile of happiness and relief forming on her face.

"Thank you… all of you." She said gratefully.

"No problem." All the men said simultaneously. They all looked at each other with confused expressions, soon followed by laughter from the unexpected randomness. Vanitas pulled up a stool, Derek doing the same, as they let themselves relax on the counter.

Derek briefly looked at Vanitas. "By the way, are you able to turn your Keyblade into anything else?" he asked.

Lucy and Makarov perked up upon hearing that question. They looked at Vanitas, with Lucy voicing the question burning in their minds. "What does he mean?"

Vanitas smirked. "Didn't I tell you? I can turn my Keyblade into different forms. Normally, it's a skill that we can use to turn our Keyblades into vehicles, and master Keyblade wielders, like Xehanort, can morph them into weapons." He summoned his Keyblade, holding it in a loose grip. "I, however, figured out the trick behind it. I can make other weapons out of it now, but I still prefer the sword form." He admitted.

"Aw, c'mon, I want to see more!" Derek said, starting to sound like a whining child.

Vanitas rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine… you big baby." Vanitas said as he was standing up, causing Derek to glare at him. Vanitas walked into the centre of the room. He charged up some energy into the Keyblade before releasing energy, creating a blinding light. When the light faded, the wings Vanitas had worn before were now equipped again, surprising Makarov and Lucy.

"No way…" Lucy said, amazed with what she saw.

"I didn't know about that." Makarov commented.

Vanitas gave them all a menacing grin. "That's not all I've got in store."

Another bright flash of light appeared. When it faded, The other three were amazed to see another form. The handle had returned to its original shape, the gem staying where it had once been. The wings connected to each end of it, their shape changing slightly. When it had stopped, the pieces took the form of the frame of a bow. The keychain then extended, each end connecting to either end of the bow. The teeth of the weapon went in front of the handle, extending it slightly so that it could connect to the ends of the handle where the wings also stuck, turning the teeth into a guard. The remaining blade of the weapon extended and wrapped itself around Vanitas' left forearm, turning it into a bracer to protect Vanitas' arm from abrasion from the bow string (or… chain, rather) if it were to hit the arm.

Vanitas held the Dark Bow in his left hand, admiring the weapon and how both magnificent and fearsome it seemed. He looked back at the group, all of whom seeming to let their jaws drop at the sight of the new weapon. Vanitas observed the weapon, then pulling the string to find it had the same elasticity of a regular bow string, much to his surprise.

"Not bad." He commented out loud.

"What else can you do?" Derek asked.

"I don't know. I think maybe I can… I can…" before Vanitas could say any more, he collapsed to the floor. The other members were shocked and worried, rushing to him only to find him sleeping peacefully. They all smiled.

"Guess the power needed to make those transformations was more than he thought." Makarov commented.

"Guess so. Let's follow his lead." Derek said before falling face first onto the ground and soon emitting snoring sounds. Makarov laughed while Lucy looked like she was trying to make a decision.

"Should… we just leave them here?" she asked Makarov.

The master chuckled to himself. "Nah, leave them be. They look really comfy anyway, so there's no point in disturbing them." He said. He turned his chair back towards the room he was sleeping in. "I, however, can't sleep without a bed, so I'm going back to mine. See you tomorrow." He said as he wheeled back to his room.

"Master?" Lucy said quickly.

Makarov stopped quickly and looked behind him. "Yes?"

"Tell the guys I said thanks. I really owe them." She said.

"Family never owe each other. I bet they'd say the same thing." He said with a smile. "But sure." He finished. He then continued on his way to his bed, while Lucy made her way back to her apartment.

….

Unknown to anyone in the hall, Lisanna had been on the roof of the guild, using her power to create bat ears to hear what had been going on. She had noticed that Lucy seemed a bit upset about something, and was worried for her after hearing what had been causing.

But she couldn't help but smile when she heard how the Demonslayer and the keybearer managed to bring her back from her funk. There was no mistake about it, those two are true Fairy Tail material.

As she got back up, she turned around briskly, expecting to see someone there. All that was behind hr was empty space, but she still had her bat ears, which told her that someone was there. She spun back forward, only to back-step after she saw someone standing in front of her. The figure wore the coat of the organization, giving her more than enough reason to ready herself for a fight.

She morphed into her cat form, ready to attack, when the figure raised his hand. "I'd rather we didn't fight. No point waking up the guys in your guild hall." He said.

Lisanna narrowed her eyes at the figure, uncomfortable with how he knew her friends were in there.

"And in case you ask, I'm not planning on hurting your allies… but I do want to talk to Vanitas."

"Why?" she asked and demanded at the same time.

The figure sighed. He then grabbed onto his coat, pulling it off with ease. When it was off him completely, Lisanna was stunned by what she saw.

The figure was a boy, around sixteen years old. He wore a black jacket that had short sleeves and a pair of long shorts, both having small patches of red, silver, blue and yellow in different places, a navy t-shirt, black shoes and a necklace shaped like a crown. What was most shocking, however, was that his face was exactly like Vanitas, save for having tanned skin, brown hair instead of black and had blue eyes, like Vanitas now had.

"I need answers… and I think he's the only one who can help me out at the moment." He answered.

 **[Alright, that's another chapter down, with a, probably expected but still interesting, twist. Sorry for taking so long with these chapters, i've been having difficulty finding the time to write. But never fear, the show (or story in this case) shall go on. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, and feel free to give your thoughts in the reviews. Thanks, see you all later.]**


	14. Vanitas vs Laxus

**[Hi everyone, hope you're all grand. Sorry I took so long with this update, but I got real caught up with my other works. Anyway, for the time being, I'll be focusing on this story, so I hope that everyone (who is still reading since it took so long to update) is ready for the show to begin]**

" **FIRE DRAGON ROOAAR!** " Natsu roared.

The breath attack had a lot more power behind it than usual. When he struck a nearby tree, it was obliterated in a single second, creating a shock-wave of flame that was close to ninety meters in diameter. It took a few seconds for the flames to fade, but when they did, it was revealed that the attack left a massive crater that was so deep that it there was nothing but pitch-black shadow down there.

"Heh, cool." He said. He went over to the crater and poked his head down it as far as he could. "HELLOOOO!" a second later, he heard the echo of his own voice emitting from the vertical cavern.

"Hey, idiot, that was way too much!" Gray exclaimed.

Gray, Lucy and Happy all joined him, all planning to do some extra training. After hearing about the organization and their intentions, they opted to do extra training to make sure they wouldn't be beaten if they were to encounter any of its members. Currently, the three that were supervising Natsu were sitting on a patch of grass outside the town.

"What do you mean?" Natsu asked, slightly offended.

"You were supposed to just destroy the target, not destroy everything around it." Lucy explained.

"Uh, guys? Wasn't _that_ supposed to be the target?" Happy asked, pointing towards a crudely drawn, cardboard cut-out of Xemnas.

"Oh yeah. Whoops." Natsu said.

"Natsu, you said you would only hit the targets we set up! We can't have the mayor breathing down our necks again after the incident with you and Vanitas at the museum!" Gray said.

Natsu cringed slightly, remembering how the mayor had sent the guild a huge bill for the damage done to the building. Somehow, only Natsu got yelled at by Makarov.

"Why was he only yelling at me?" he asked.

"Because Vanitas was looking after Asuka at the time, remember?" Happy said.

After a second, Natsu sat on the ground, crossed his legs and then folded his arms as he began to pout. Lucy grinned at him. No matter how old Natsu would get, he would always act like a child. It wouldn't be something that people would think to change about him, partly because it would be a waste of effort trying. The main reason is that it was something that people just… well, liked about him for some reason. Even Vanitas, despite becoming a bit darker recently, couldn't help but laugh around him.

She stood up from the grass and walked over to him. When she was directly over him, she knelt down and rubbed the top of his head. Surprised, Natsu looked at Lucy with a raised brow. She smiled in response, adding in a small giggle.

"No need to get so worked up. We know you're amazing at fighting. We just want you to be a little careful. We can't afford to be reckless and we all need to at our best." She said to him, trying to act comforting.

Natsu looked a little less agitated, but he was still having difficulty cheering up. Lucy thought for a moment before coming up with a solution.

"How about we take a break and get something to eat?" she asked.

At that, Natsu shot up and threw his fists up into the air. He was cheered up immediately. However, he did it so quickly that he accidentally hit Lucy with one of his fists, launching her high into the sky. The poor girl screamed a number of curses as she flew through the air, apparently back into the town.

"OH YEAH, NOW I'M FIRED UP!" Natsu roared.

"Well c'mon, let's get going, Lucy already has a head start!" Happy said.

Natsu looked up into the air and saw that she was, in fact, heading into the town through air travel. "Oh man, you're right, let's hurry before she beats us there!" Natsu said. Immediately he dashed towards Magnolia, with Happy close behind him. Gray sighed at them as he decided to follow them.

"Idiots. Why do they have to act like that?" Gray asked himself. He put his hands in his pockets and strolled towards the city. "I wonder what everyone else is doing?"

…..

"Wow, he looks really peaceful, doesn't he?" Mirajane said.

After all the guild members entered the guild hall, they were met with an unusual sight. Derek was fast asleep on the floor, sprawled across it and his head was resting in a puddle of his own drool. Many of the members were a little confused by this, but Mirajane thought it was cute.

"It's not often we got to see this side of him." She said. She then looked like she was thinking of something. "I wonder why he's asleep here?"

"I heard that he and Vanitas were having a fight last night. Maybe he came here to rest and fell asleep in the process." Wendy suggested. She was the first to see Derek; when she saw him, he was so still and cold from the night air that she taught she was dead. She was embarrassed when she went over to the hospital to see if there was a doctor in the house, bringing one back only to find him snoring his head off. Her face was still red from the embarrassment.

"Who won?" Carla asked.

"I bet it was Vanitas. He's too manly to lose." Elfman said.

"Oh, but Derek's been making vast improvements in his magic in the last few hours. He's nearly a match for Natsu." Mirajane said.

….

As Natsu was running, looking forward to one or two (or more) of Mirajane's dishes, when he stopped abruptly. As he skidded to a stop, his right eye started to twitch. Happy, who was flying directly behind him, crashed into his back. Natsu didn't move an inch, however.

Happy landed on his butt and looked up at Natsu. "Hey, what's the big idea?" he asked his friend.

"… I don't know why, but something's bugging me again." Natsu answered.

…

"Fair point I guess." Wendy replied to Mirajane.

Mirajane's eyes widened suddenly. She turned towards the bar and went behind the counter as quickly as possible. She ducked down and began searching for something, going as far as throwing a number of random objects into the air, ranging from saucepans to rubber chickens (which the other members found unusual).

After a few minutes, Mirajane's head popped back up, followed by a massive, chocolate cake with pink icing. One of the members shouted out "How the check did you fit that massive cake behind the bar!"

Mirajane just smiled and walked out from behind the bar. "A while ago, I baked this cake for Natsu to try out. He eats a lot so I decided to try adding a new ingredient that is SURE to fill him up."

"Hah, there isn't a single food existence that can fill him up in one go." Said another.

"If there is, how come we never heard of it?"

As they spoke, Derek's mouth closed and his nose twitched. His brow lowered as he woke with a grunt emitting from his mouth. Everyone turned to him when they heard him, many of whom were smirking.

"Enjoying your beauty sleep?" Carla asked.

"BEAUTY SLEEP!? That's SO unmanly!" Elfman yelled.

"Elfman!" Mirajane said.

Derek shook his head a few times before he rolled onto his back and flipped onto his feet. Standing up straight, he stretched out his arms and yawned.

"Uuugh, morning everyone. Sorry I slept on the floor, I was worn out from last night." Derek said.

"Were you fighting Vanitas?" Wendy asked.

"Yep. And in case you ask, he won… twice."

"Twice? You guys fought twice?"

"No… actually, I'd rather not talk about it." Derek said, remembering the bet he made with Vanitas.

"Fair enough." Mirajane said. She placed the cake on the table and went to get Derek a glass of water. She filled the glass and brought it to Derek, who gratefully accepted it.

"Thanks, Mirajane." Derek said.

"You're welcome." Mirajane said gleefully. She then leaned in closer to Derek, sporting an inquisitive look on her face. "So… what exactly happened during the fight?"

This caught everyone's attention, causing them all to rush up to him. As uncomfortable as Derek felt from this, he decided to answer her question. "Heh-heh, okay. Well, um, what happened was…"

…

Town was surprisingly busy today. All the citizens were all wearing happy faces, enjoying all that their home had to offer. Whether it was in the nature park, the shopping district or any other part of the city, everyone was in a truly joyous mood.

Vanitas walked through the streets with his hands in his pockets, watching everything that was going on. His eyes came upon a man and woman who were talking to each other. The girl must have made a joke, as the man laughed while he was trying to drink his coffee, spilling some onto his lap in the process. He continued to laugh while the woman suddenly burst into a fit of laughter herself. Vanitas grinned.

His peripheral vision then caught something else. He turned to see a woman and a child, seemingly four years old, playing a game of tag. He guessed that the woman was the child's mother. When the child caught the mother, she laughed and hugged the child. Unconsciously, Vanitas's hands curled up into fists. He briskly turned away and continued to walk down the street.

" _I wonder what it would be like. To live like a normal person, having an_ actual _life. I never got that chance._ " He thought. His eyes briefly changed colour again, turning crimson.

" _I wish I never existed."_

His eyes immediately widened and he smacked himself in the face hard. It was painful, but it was enough to bring him out of his dark thoughts. However, he soon got a strong headache. He went up to the city's canal and sat at the edge as he rubbed his left temple. He took in a deep breath and exhaled.

"Damn it. It's coming back strong." Vanitas said to himself. After he reawakened his full dark power, his own darkness had gotten back to work on mentally destroying him. He thought that he was getting the hang of it, but he was wrong.

He sighed as he tried to put his old memories at the back of his mind. He decided to get up and continue walking around the town. When he got up, he turned around, only to accidentally knock into someone. This resulted in Vanitas losing his balance, falling backwards. He would've fallen into the water had the person he knocked into not grabbed a hold of his jacket. Vanitas saw that he was only using one hand.

This person pulled him back a little more so that he had more distance from the water. When he let go of Vanitas, the latter looked at him with a grateful smile. Vanitas was surprised when he got a good look at the person. It was a man, who Vanitas guessed was in his mid-twenties, had short blond hair, a lightning-bolt shaped scar over his right eyes, wore a purple shirt, a leopard-patterned coat, black trousers and black shoes. He was so tall and muscular that he seemed like the intimidating type.

However, Vanitas was far from intimidated.

"Thanks for the save. What's the name?" Vanitas said.

The man smiled. "The name's Laxus. No problem." The man known as Laxus eyed him suspiciously for a moment. "Have I seen you from somewhere?"

"Don't think so, but I've heard of you. You're one of the Fairy Tail Dragonslayers, aren't you?" Vanitas said.

"Damn right. Now, who are you, exactly?" Laxus asked.

Vanitas answered his question by taking off his jacket and pulling up his shirt sleeve, revealing his unique Fairy Tail emblem. Laxus raised an eyebrow at him, confused at what this meant. However, he remembered something about a new member entering the guild.

"Wait a minute… are you that new guy?" he asked. Vanitas nodded. Laxus thought for a moment. "Uh… Vanity, right?"

Vanitas sighed. "Close… its Vanitas."

"Right. I hear that you're supposed to be pretty tough. You took down that "Nightmare" creature that was the target of a century quest."

Vanitas couldn't help but smile. "That thing never stood a chance against me."

Laxus smiled back. "If you think you're that tough, how about you and I go a round?"

"Where and when?" Vanitas instantly asked.

Laxus looked over to an empty field. He then looked back at Vanitas. As his eyes became narrower, sparks of electricity started to dance across his body. Vanitas' smile soon started to fade. Before he could react, Laxus shot out a palm and pushed him all the way over to the field. As Vanitas flew through the air, with large amount of electricity coursing through his system, he was surprised that he was pushed back so easily.

"What the... how tough _is_ this guy?" Vanitas asked out loud.

When Vanitas reached the field, he summoned his Keyblade, spun around for a bit and impaled the ground, helping to stop his flying through the air. While this helped Vanitas to stop flying through the air, the metal of the weapon reacted with the remaining electricity in the body, causing him to experience a strong shock.

"GGAAAAGH!" Vanitas roared as he felt the shock. He was quickly brought down to his knees. After a second, he heard the sound of crackling electricity. He looked up and saw that Laxus was walking over to him with his hands in his pockets.

"You want to give up?" Laxus asked.

Vanitas noticed that there was a hint of concern in his eyes. Vanitas' answer was that he got back onto his feet. He spun his Keyblade around once and then threw it up into the air. As the weapon flew high into the sky, Vanitas looked back at Laxus.

"This actually works. I recently got a new toy I wanted to try out."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a bright flash of light in the air. When it faded, the Keyblade fell back down. Vanitas caught it in his left hand. Laxus was surprised to see that it had changed shape.

The Keyblade was now in the 'Dark Bow' form.

Laxus smirked. "Not bad, kid. Now I've got to top that." He said. Soon after, he built up more electrical energy, a great deal of it coating his arms and legs.

Vanitas pulled back the bow-chain/string, his fingertips directly opposite the gem on the handle. As he did so, a beam of dark energy flowed out of the gem and connected to where his fingers held the bow. Vanitas pulled back on the string, lengthening the beam of energy. As he did so, the outer side of the bow formed an arrowhead with jagged edges.

"I'd like to see you try." Vanitas said darkly.

…

Lisanna was walking around the town looking for Vanitas. She had a worried look on her face.

After last night's encounter with Vanitas' doppelganger she was unable to get over the initial shock. After the boy revealed himself, he went about explaining who he was. It was a very unusual night to say the least.

(Flashback)

 _After two hours of sitting on the roof, the mysterious boy and Lisanna had finished a lengthy conversation about who the boy was and why he was here. He basically said that he on a journey to defeat a group of people who plan to cause a war to break out that could lead to the complete destruction of existence. When Lisanna asked if it was the Keyblade war, Sora practically looked like a fish out of water. Lisanna explained that it was because a friend with the same power, the same person Sora was wanting to meet, told them. As they continued to talk, the boy placed both his hands behind his head and laid on his back, smiling as he hadn't a care in the world._

 _Lisanna was silently watching the boy for a moment before speaking. "So… you're the guy that Vanitas was talking about." She finally said. She shook her head when she felt like she forgot something. "Um, sorry. What did you say your name was?"_

 _The boy raised his head up slightly. He continued to smile. "No problem. My name's Sora." He sat back up and rubbed the lower part of his back. "Aw man, I think I pulled a muscle on the way over here."_

 _Lisanna raised her head. "Oh, don't worry, I can help with that. Turn around." She said._

 _Sora immediately complied, not making a single complaint. Lisanna didn't think much of it, instead focusing on massaging the lower left part of his back. Sora was amazed that the pain started to fade away quickly._

" _Woah! How are you doing that?" Sora asked._

" _I know a thing or two about healing the body with natural ways. Good to know in case something happens or if medicine doesn't work. It's pretty cool, though not as cool as healing magic." Lisanna replied._

 _Sora raised his brow. He turned his head around to look at her. "Really? I used healing magic and I wasn't able to fix that."_

" _I guess it's the wrong kind of spell." Lisanna answered._

 _When the pain fully faded away, Sora signalled her to stop and he pulled down his shirt. He then stood up and offered Lisanna a hand up, which she took happily. When they were both up, she looked up at the sky, the moon shining down brightly onto the city._

" _Sooo, you're here to try and train more? From what I heard you're supposed to be pretty tough." Lisanna said. She giggled slightly. "To be training this much, you're going to be unstoppable."_

 _Sora was silent for a moment before he chuckled nervously. "Uuuhh… yeah, about that…"_

" _Hm?" Lisanna asked._

" _You know how Vanitas told you I was up against Xehanort at one point?" Sora asked._

" _Yeah. Why?"_

"… _My power was completely drained from that battle. I'm back to square one… again." Sora finished._

"… _WHAT!?"_

 _(Flashback end)_

Lisanna sighed. She couldn't believe that the one person who was supposed to save the universe was left with so little power. Truth be told, she didn't really mind. She was in a similar situation after awakening from the slumber on Tenroe Island, she and almost everyone on the island had become weak in comparison. She managed to catch up again, luckily, so she was okay for the time being.

Sora, however, seemed to have had this scenario happen to him more than once. He didn't go into many details on it, but he said that he managed to build up his strength again. It was like a pattern of some kind.

Lisanna looked behind her. When she did, she saw Sora standing in front of the stalls, drooling as he saw a large plate full of brownies. His eyes were practically sparkling with joy at the same time. Lisanna sighed and grabbed him by the hood of his jacket, pulling him away from the stall. Sora was then waving his arms at the stall, like a child being pulled away from a toy shop.

"Sora, come ON! You told me that you needed to talk to Vanitas, remember?" Lisanna asked.

"Yeah, but I haven't eaten for two DAYS now. I'm hungry." Sora replied.

Lisanna rolled her eyes. "Honestly, you're just like… huh?"

Before Lisanna could finish what she wanted to say, she heard a faint sound. It sounded like someone was screaming. Immediately morphed into her cat form and readied her claws. Sora was startled by the sudden transformation.

"Woah, you okay? What's wrong?" he asked.

Lisanna turned back to Sora. "Can't you hear someone screaming?"

Sora was silent for a moment as he held his right hand up to his ear, hoping to catch the screaming that Lisanna was talking about. He widened his eyes when the scream became a bit louder, allowing him to hear it.

"Oh yeah, I hear I-AAGH!" Sora said, being abruptly interrupted after something from the sky landed on him.

Lisanna jumped into the air, arching her head towards the ground, simulating a real cat jumping in the air as she was startled by Sora's scream. When she landed, she turned around, only to look in confusion at what she saw.

"Owww. That really hurt." Lucy said. Her eyes were spinning, which made sense as she was spinning in the air quite quickly and for a while. Her impact upon landing didn't do much to help the situation.

Her landing cushion wasn't happy either. " _You're telling me_." Sora said, his voice being muffled by the fact his face was being pressed into the ground.

"HEY, LUCY, WHERE ARE YOU!?" came another voice.

Lisanna turned around and saw that it was Natsu running at top speed, with Happy not too far behind him. She looked back to Lucy for a brief moment before looking at Natsu.

"Natsu! What happened!?" she asked.

"Lucy suggested we head back here for something to eat. She beat us in the race back to town." Happy explained.

"I never said to race. And Natsu punched me into the air." Lucy finished.

Natsu laughed triumphantly. However, it came to a quick end after his nose started twitching. He sniffed the air around him. "Hey… I'm getting a familiar scent."

"Huh? From where?" Happy asked.

Natsu didn't answer. Instead, he continued to sniff the air for a while longer before he lowered his head down to the ground. He continued to try and sniff out his target for a few seconds before stopping right in front of Lucy, seeing a boy underneath. It was where the scent was coming from.

"Why do you smell familiar?" he asked. Before he could get any answers, Lucy saw Natsu come up close and, instinctively, threw a foot at his face, sending him flying into a nearby wall.

"HEY, KNOCK IT OFF, JERK!" Lucy screamed.

Suddenly, she felt the ground beneath her move slightly, followed by a moan of pain. She looked down and saw that she was sitting on someone.

" _Lisanna? Do you know anything for a sore… everything?_ " Sora asked.

Lisanna giggled in response. "Bad timing by the looks of it." Lisanna said. She then turned her attention to Lucy. "Lucy, I'd like you to meet a new friend I made." She said, her face starting to become giddier.

Lucy looked down again, soon looking embarrassed and shocked at what happened. She shot up onto her feet and bowed. "OH MY GOODNESS, I'M SO SORRY, I DIDN'T MEAN TO LAND ON YOU, IT WAS A COMPLETE ACCIDENT!" she said.

Sora, who still had his face planted onto the ground, lifted his hands into the air and gave Lucy two thumbs up. " _Don't worry, its fine._ "

Sora then lowered his hands and pressed them down onto the ground and pushed himself up. He looked up at the girls and gave them a big smile.

"Hi, I'm Sora."

When Lucy saw him, she seemed like she was about to faint. The boy's facial features were exactly identical to Vanitas. His skin and hair color were different, but he had the same blue eyes Vanitas had gained. For some reason, she was shaking.

"No… no way." Lucy managed to say.

Lisanna placed a hand on one of her shoulders. "I know. It was a shock for me too."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Why does everyone look so surprised when they see me for the first time?"

Lisanna looked back at him. Sora never mentioned that he knew what Vanitas looked like, so he mustn't know that they look alike. "You know what? We'll tell you why when you meet Vanitas."

Sora's smile fell when he heard Vanitas' name, becoming a bit more serious when he remembered his mission. He got back on his feet and held out his hand out to Lucy. Lucy was hesitant for a moment, but took it soon after. Sora went back to smiling after that.

"Alright. Now that we've got acquainted with each other, let's head over to-"

As Lisanna spoke, there was a loud crackling of thunder, not too far away from them. They all turned towards the direction the sound came from. Sora was the first to react. He raised his arm up into the air, summoning his own Keyblade. Much to the surprise of the girls, his was also the Oblivion.

"C'mon, let's move!" Sora exclaimed. He held the blade with both hands at his right side and ran as fast as he could to the source of the thunder. Lisanna and Lucy sweat-dropped when they saw him run.

"Do you think that lightning's from…" Lisanna started.

"Yep. Laxus is going to kill him." Lucy said deadpanned.

With that, the two girls made their way over to the source as quickly as possible. As they did, Natsu pulled himself back onto his feet. When he saw another blast of lightning, his eyes immediately gleamed.

"OH YEEAAAAHH! LAXUS IS BACK!" Natsu roared. He was about to run towards that direction when he felt something pulling his scarf. He looked back around and saw that it was Happy. Natsu's expression went from happy to furious in an instant. "HEY! WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA!?"

"Just wanted to ask, what did you mean when you said the guy who Lucy was sitting on smelled familiar? Did you meet him before?" Happy asked, now full of curiosity.

Natsu quickly forgot his anger as he remembered to boy from before. Natsu's nose instinctively twitched as he remembered to scent. He looked back to where everyone went and he narrowed his eyes.

" _Is he the same guy from before?"_ Natsu thought. He shook his head, deciding to put it at the back of his mind, and followed the rest of the group to the next destination.

…

(Music- "Enter the Darkness"- Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep OST)

Laxus charged a great amount of electricity around him and proceeded to fire a number of lightning bolts from the energy. They were moving so fast that no normal person would've been able to see it. However, Vanitas was anything but ordinary. As the bolts closed in, Vanitas warped out of their way, evading every single one.

Laxus paused for a moment, trying to charge up some more energy for another attack. As he did, Vanitas saw his chance. He formed another arrow on the bow and prepared to fire. However, as he pulled back the arrow, the projectile soon morphed from one made of dark energy into one made of water.

"Wateraga!" Vanitas exclaimed. As he did, he fired the arrow, which soon turned into a massive pillar of water that was making its way over to Laxus. The lightning wizard, smirked at the attack. Instead of standing still, he covered himself with lightning and zipped away from the attack, which hit nothing but air. Laxus quickly appeared behind Vanitas. He held both his hands together, charged up more electrical energy and brought them down towards his head.

" **LIGHTNING DRAGON'S JAW!"** Laxus bellowed.

" _Nice try!"_ Vanitas thought briefly.

Vanitas span around and blocked the attack with the frame of his bow, which also had a blade on the outer side. The block resulted in cutting the back of Laxus' right hand. Momentarily distracted, Laxus didn't notice when Vanitas span again, readying another arrow. This time, the arrow was made with a violet energy. Vanitas knelt down and aimed the arrow towards Laxus' jaw, soon firing the arrow.

As the arrow struck Laxus' jaw, instead of piercing it, it created a small explosion with enough force behind it to send Laxus flying high into the sky. As he flew, Vanitas manifested a number of arrows made of darkness. He shot one after another quite quickly, the rapid fire proving useful in landing a few hits on Laxus. As each arrow struck, they quickly faded away, but the pain from the sharp impacts still remained.

Twenty-seven arrows later, Laxus was back on the ground. Vanitas readied himself in case he tried to attack him from behind. Within a split second, Laxus was gone. When Vanitas spun, he saw that Laxus wasn't there. He turned back around to receive an electrically charged fist to the sternum. Vanitas was sent flying back. As he did so, he suddenly stopped mid-air, as if time had stopped. Laxus was surprised by this, but his nose quickly twitched, causing him to look behind him to see Vanitas pulling back the weapon and aiming to hit him with it.

"Gotch'a!" Vanitas said as he dived down.

Laxus dodged, narrowly avoiding getting sliced by the bow frame again. As he stopped, he placed one of his feet behind him and launched off it as he soared towards Vanitas. The dark warrior threw the bow into his right hand and spun around, holding out part of the bow. As Laxus came closer, Vanitas sliced at Laxus, who easily avoided the attack.

Vanitas span in the opposite direction with more velocity, aiming for Laxus' hip. However, Laxus dodged again. He was about to give Vanitas a kick to the stomach when Vanitas blocked the foot with the flat side of his bow. As the foot rebounded, Vanitas rushed forward, causing Laxus to hold up an arm in defense. As he did, Vanitas teleported behind him and spun again, striking Laxus in the side of his left knee with the flat side of his bow, bringing him to the ground. With his free hand, Vanitas conjured a ball of dark energy. He pulled back the hand with the darkness, only to see his target vanish again. Before Vanitas could react, a bolt of lightning shot out of nowhere and hit the ball of darkness, creating a blast that sent Vanitas flying and left him slightly disoriented.

Laxus came at Vanitas, giving him an electrically charged uppercut as he came back down to earth, which sent him farther away. Laxus smiled as he saw how things were going in his favour. However, the electricity in the punch was enough to give Vanitas a small boost in energy. He flipped mid-air and turned the weapon back into its sword form. He summoned the three dark crystals and shot out a blast of dark energy.

"DARK CANNON!"

Laxus summoned a barrier of lightning that easily blocked the attack. This shocked Vanitas.

"Who is this guy?" Vanitas asked himself.

Laxus took in a deep breath of air. As he did so, more electrical energy began to grow around him. After a few seconds, Laxus bellowed-

" **LIGHTNING DRAGON ROOOAAAR!"**

A huge mass of electricity shot out of Laxus, destroying anything at came across it. Vanitas saw the lightning make its way over to him. As it did, an idea clicked. He pointed the tip of the Keyblade out towards the attack. Vanitas smirked as the attack was just inches away from hitting the tip.

"Not yet." He said to himself.

As his did, the Keyblade began to glow orange. As the lightning hit the Keyblade, instead of causing damage to Vanitas, the Keyblade absorbed the power of the attack. After a few seconds, the electricity faded from view, and Vanitas hadn't moved and inch. Laxus was shocked by this, but what surprised him more was when the orange energy around the Keyblade expanded, forming a gigantic blade shape around the Keyblade.

"The end." Vanitas said darkly.

He pointed the tip of the, now enlarged, weapon towards Laxus. The energy then began to glow, changing its shape into a giant 'X' at the point of the original Keyblade's tip. The 'X' soon began to spin at a high velocity.

"EXTINGUISH!" he roared.

A massive blast of energy shot towards Laxus. The lightning mage grinned at Vanitas.

"You're pretty tough kid." Laxus said. He then pulled one of his hands behind him and more electricity built up around him.

" **DRAGONSLAYER SECRET ART- ROARING THUNDER!"**

Laxus hurled his fist at Vanitas' attack. When the two collided, a shock-wave of energy was created, and the orange energy was shattered. Vanitas was amazed by the force of the attack, but was also caught off guard as a result, causing him to be launched backwards and thrown onto his backside. Before he could get up, Laxus was behind him with an arm wrapping around Vanitas' neck.

(End music)

"Ready to give up?" Laxus asked.

Vanitas was motionless for a moment before clutching his Keyblade and Vanishing. Laxus was surprised by this. Before he could move, however, he felt a blade pressed up against his throat. His eyes moved to his left and saw a familiar head of black, spiky hair.

"No. I don't give up, not anymore." Vanitas said.

All was silent for a moment before Laxus started to chuckle. "You win, kid." Laxus said.

Immediately, Vanitas' weapon faded. He took a couple of steps back and held out a hand to help Laxus, who gratefully took it. As the two were now standing, they looked around and saw that the area they were fighting in was a complete mess.

"We really went all out here, didn't we?" Vanitas asked.

"Maybe _you_ did." Laxus said.

Vanitas smirked and began to stretch his various muscles. "Tell me, was that Dragon slayer magic you were using… I don't know… _different_ to the rest?"

Laxus eyed him suspiciously. "What makes you say that?"

"Natsu, Wendy and Gajeel all had a certain form of energy coming off their magic, the kind that gave away that their magic came from them, as in their own training. Yours has a sense of having an external source of power. Granted, you're pretty strong, but… you know."

"… you're good." Laxus said. Laxus was about to say something when Vanitas raised a hand up.

"Don't tell me anything because you feel you have to. If you're not comfortable talking about it, then we don't need to talk." Vanitas said quickly.

Laxus simply stared at the boy for a couple more seconds. He was about to speak when he heard something behind him. He turned around and saw a ball of glowing ice.

"FREEZE!" came a voice from behind the ice. With that, the ice shot forward and was making its way over to Laxus. Before the lightning Dragonslayer could react, Vanitas got in front of him and made an upward slash at the ball, slicing it into two.

As the ice split, time seemed to slow as Vanitas got a good look at the caster. To say that he was shocked would be an understatement. The boy who cast the ice spell looked exactly like Vanitas, save for the eye and hair color, as well as the fact that he was well tanned. The caster saw Vanitas as well, and was in in a similar state of shock when he saw Vanitas. Vanitas narrowed his eyes.

" _I know how you feel._ " Vanitas said.

Laxus saw the caster and was surprised to see that they looked near identical, except for the color pattern. He looked at Vanitas.

"Is this guy your brother?" Laxus asked.

"Who… who are you?" the caster asked.

Vanitas stayed silent for a moment before he dematerialized his Keyblade and held his hands behind his back.

"Nice to see you face to face for once, Sora." Vanitas said. "And to answer your question, my name is Vanitas."

Sora stood still for a moment longer. Vanitas assumed that Sora was still suffering from shock. He walked up to him and was soon standing directly in front of him. Before Vanitas could say anything more, however, Sora immediately grabbed his cheeks and began pulling at them.

" _What… are you doing?_ " Vanitas managed to say while Sora was messing with his face, much to his discomfort.

"Just checking to see if you're real. It's not everyday you see a look-alike." Sora said.

Vanitas quickly slapped Sora's hands down from his face and began glaring at him. At this, Sora simply pulled his hands behind his back and smiled.

"Yeesh, you're a mood-killer aren't you?" Sora asked.

"You're a real pain, you know that?" Vanitas asked.

"… It might've been talked about, yep." Sora said, after taking a moment to think about what Vanitas said.

Laxus was a little confused by what was going on, but chose to stay silent. Although, he had to admit that he was curious about this other new arrival. The two looked alike, but what if they both were just as powerful. He was about to ask the boy who he was when he heard a familiar course of screaming voices in the distance.

They all turned to see Lisanna, Lucy, Happy and Natsu (the last two having managed to catch up to the girls) running towards them. The girls and Happy all looked exhausted, but Natsu had his fighting face on when he saw Laxus.

"ALRIGHT, LAXUS! FIGHT ME!" Natsu yelled as he ignited his fists. However, when Natsu was close wnough, Laxus raised his right hand up as high as he could reach and slammed it into Natsu's head, embedding him into the ground below him and, most likely, giving him a strong concussion. Happy saw this and crossed his arms in the shape of an 'X'.

"Laxus, 17. Natsu, 1. Sorry pal." Happy said, referring to each of the Dragonslayer's victories against each other.

All Natsu could do was release a small moan of pain from the strength of the attack. The girls weren't sure what to make of it, while Sora looked at Laxus with awe and Vanitas smiled at Natsu, more particularly the damage left by Laxus' attack. He looked back at Laxus.

"So you _were_ holding back." Vanitas stated.

"Yeah. Just wanted to see how strong you really were. Really though, you were pretty good." Laxus replied.

Vanitas stared back at Laxus with cold eyes and a mischievous smile. "You owe me a rematch."

"… Fine by me." Laxus said, a small smirk forming on his face.

The girls were over their shock and looked to Laxus. "Hey, Laxus, where were you? Were you on a job or something?" Lisanna asked.

"Yeah, came back not too long ago. I was on my way to the guild hall when I came across this guy." Laxus answered, pointing at Vanitas. "I'm going to head there now." He said before turning around and walking away from the group.

"HEY!" Lucy yelled, feeling a bit left out.

Everyone else laughed at her silliness. When they were finished, Vanitas turned to Sora.

"So, what do you want?" Vanitas asked.

Sora turned to him, looking a bit hesitant, having suddenly forgotten what it was he wanted to talk about. His eyes then quickly widened when he remembered.

"Oh, right!" Sora said before he quickly stood in an assertive pose and looked directly at Vanitas. "I heard somewhere that you were an apprentice to Xehanort. I'm here because I want to know more about him, mainly how I can beat him."

Vanitas couldn't help but smirk at the boy's determination. "Sorry kid, the guy doesn't leave any open weaknesses if that's what you're looking for." He answered.

Sora's shoulders immediately slumped. He was about to speak when Vanitas spoke up again.

"But… if you want, you can help us here, me and some friends are working on taking down the organization XIII members that are here now. Maybe they have some new information."

"THE ORGANIZATION IS HERE!?" Sora bellowed.

Vanitas immediately clamped his hand over Sora's mouth. "Yes, and it would be great if you _didn't_ go screaming about it like a raving lunatic."

Sora was still for a moment before he slowly nodded his head, letting him know that he understood. Vanitas then removed his hand.

"Thank you." Vanitas said.

Sora nodded at him. "Well, if you guys are going to fight them, I'd like to help out. I know of a couple of members already, so I can help out. That is… if you guys want me to."

Vanitas subtly eyed the other members. Lisanna and Lucy both nodded their heads. Happy gave him two paws up and mouthed the word 'Aye'. Natsu, who had mamanged to recover from Laxus' bow and was now sitting cross-legged on the shattered ground, seemed a little suspicious about it, as he should be, but he decided to go along with it for now.

Vanitas looked back at Sora.

"Welcome to the club."

 **[AAAAAAAnd, that's it for now, ladies and gentleman. Once again, I would like to apologies that I haven't updated for so long. But now that I'm writing this story again, I'm going to try and fit in as much time as I can into writing. Just please don't expect a new chapter everyday, as cool as that would be, I have limits. Hope you enjoyed it, and don't be afraid to leave a review to say what you thought. See you all later.]**


	15. Calm before the Storm

"AAAAAGH!" Sora yelled.

He was sent flying through the air and ended up landing on his back. Before he could get back up, a humanoid female demon. She wore a pink jump suit that revealed much of her top half. She had long, white hair, blue eyes, her face seemingly cracked in some parts. She also sported a lizard tail and was holding her clawed hands over Sora. She looked at Sora with a serious expression.

Sora was trying his best to hold back a shiver. He then gulped and chuckled slightly. " _C'mon! THINK!"_ he thought to himself. He looked around and tried to find a way out of this predicament. He then came up with an idea. He dematerialized his Keyblade and thrusted himself up, bashing the demon in the head. She was disoriented long enough to roll backwards and get back onto his feet. He summoned his Keyblade again. He pointed the tip towards the demon and fired a small fireball. It struck the demon in the shoulder. However, it seemed unfazed by the attack.

"Oh, you've GOT to be kidding me!" Sora yelled.

The demon charged at him again. It swiped its right claw at him, which he rolled underneath and kicked the demon in the back of its knee, causing it to fall down on said knee. Sora then swung the Keyblade around, aimed for her head, hoping to land a hit. Unfortunately, the demon caught the weapon at the last minute. With that, she yanked both the weapon and the wielder above her head and slammed them both into the ground.

This resulted in a huge cloud of dust to form around them. When it faded, the demon was standing up and Sora was lying in a crater with his eyes spinning.

"O-okay… I give up." He managed to say.

As soon as he said it, the demon became engulfed in light and the transformed back into Mirajane, who now had a look of concern on her face.

"Oh dear. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to go so hard on you." Mirajane said, now clearly filled with remorse for having bested Sora in that particular manner.

" _Wow, that's a real attitude spin. A moment ago she was happy to tear me to shreds._ " Sora thought. He then shook his head and pulled himself out of the crater. "Don't worry about it. I told you to go all out, remember? Plus, it was awesome. You're WAY tougher than you let on."

Mirajane's eyes immediately brightened and was soon smiling. "Oh, thank you. You should've seen me a few years ago, I was always looking for a fight."

Sora grinned back at her. After he had agreed to help Vanitas and Fairy Tail to take on the organization members here, he asked Vanitas if he knew any quick ways of getting some of his strength back. Vanitas honestly told him that it wouldn't be that easy, which slightly disheartened him at first. However, Lucy told him that if they all trained with him, he might at least get the skill he needed, if not power, to take them on.

Vanitas agreed to the idea, thinking it was worth a shot. With that, Sora had undergone a few sparring matches with the wizards of Fairy Tail, the first of which had been with Lucy herself. Sora was amazed with her celestial spirits and how well both they and she worked together. It reminded him of how he had used gems to summon beings from other worlds to help him fight. He had managed to forge his own bonds with them, just as Lucy and her spirits have become just as close.

Since then, it was Natsu (who nearly blew him up), Grey (who almost gave third degree frostbite to Sora), Erza (who didn't think to show mercy at any point) and Wendy (the only one who wanted to give Sora a chance at improving rather than trying to kill him). After facing off against the whole of Team Natsu, Mirajane had offered to spar with Sora. He wasn't sure at first, seeing how Mirajane didn't look like much of a fighter, but changed his mind after he saw her use her take-over magic to turn into her usual demon form. While a bit frightened, he now looked forward to the battle.

Sora stretched his muscles and squatted down to the ground. After having spared against a number of the members, he thought it would be a good idea to explore the town and see what was going on. He could never resist the urge to explore a new world if the opportunity were to arise.

"So, what would you like to do now, Sora?" Mirajane asked, bending down slightly towards Sora.

Sora looked back at her. "Well, I was thinking about exploring the town a little more, you know, just to see what's going on." Sora answered.

"Well, before you head out, how about I fix you something to eat? It'd be a good way to get some of your energy back." Mirajane said. With that, she offered Sora a helping hand up, which he took gratefully. With that, they made their way back to the guild hall.

…

"Okay, bud. You may have one this time, but now you don't stand a chance." Derek said confidently.

"Sorry, Derek. I'm afraid you don't stand a chance in this fight." Vanitas said.

"Oh yeah… well, let's just see about that!"

Derek's eyes scanned the area carefully, trying to find all the options available. His eyes widened when he saw the perfect strategy. He gave Vanitas a leering smile, sure of his victory. With that, he made his move.

"Aaaaand… I take your knight with my bishop! Didn't see that coming, did you?" Derek said confidently.

Vanitas looked back at the chess board, seemingly unimpressed by Derek's move. With that, Vanitas made his move.

"My rook takes your queen, trapping your king, so… checkmate." Vanitas said. He laid back in his chair and looked at Derek as he was now wallowing in his defeat.

"Why? WHHYYYY?" Derek yelled. He fell off his chair and dramatically slammed his fist into the ground.

The other members of the guild looked at the display and they all sighed.

"Derek may have a lot of power under his belt, but he seems to be on a losing streak when he's up against Vanitas." Macou said. The elder, navy haired mage shook his head with sympathy as he saw Derek.

Wendy went up to him and patted him on the back. "Oh, don't worry Derek, I'm sure you'll win next time. Don't be sad. Please?" she said.

"Have you no heart!?" Derek exclaimed to Vanitas

"What's going on here?" came Makarov's voice.

Everyone, except for Vanitas, Derek and Wendy, turned to Makarov, who had a perplexed look on his face.

Macou took the liberty of explaining the situation. "Derek challenged Vanitas to another fight. Spiky wasn't up for it though, but he said they'd play a game of some sort."

Erza, who was enjoying a bowl of ice-cream with strawberries mixed in at the bar-counter, turned and continued on with the story. "I suggested chess, as it's said to be the best in terms of strategy." She said.

"AMD LOOK WHERE YOU GOT MEEE!" Derek cried out to Erza.

Vanitas looked at Derek for a moment before lightly shaking his head. "Do you have be so dramatic?" he asked. He then stood up and walked over to Derek, grabbing him by the back of his shirt and lifting him up into the air, surprising Wendy.

"Don't just sit around and cry about it. If you want to beat me, then train harder." Vanitas said bluntly.

Derek immediately snapped out of his state of mind, but not because he was listening to what Vanitas was saying, but more so how he was saying it. He couldn't help but notice that Vanitas seemed to be a little more… serious than before. At this point, he would be giving a sarcastic comment. He thought of asking what was wrong, but instead he gave Vanitas a wide smile and a two-fingered salute.

"Got it." Derek said. Vanitas released his grip on Derek, the latter landing in a squatting position.

"Good, now-"

Before Vanitas could say anything else, the main doors opened and everyone saw Mirajane and a slightly bruised Sora entering the guild hall.

"Hi, everyone. In case anyone's interested, I'm going to try a new recipe for stew. Anyone interested?" Mirajane said to the guild.

With that, many of the guild members began cheering like their life depended on it. Mirajane couldn't help but smile at how they were looking forward to it. "Coming right up." She said happily.

Vanitas smirked. There weren't many things that could tempt him these days, but he could never resist the opportunity to try out one of her dishes. He saw walking towards his direction. Vanitas kicked out a chair for Sora to sit in, who immediately sat down and let out a sigh of relief.

"Tough match?" Vanitas asked.

"When you said you would help me out, is that your definition of trying to kill me?" Sora asked in response.

Vanitas sat back down and began resetting the chess board. "True, it may've been too soon pitting you against Mira. I should've asked Elfman to spar with you."

"WHAT WAS THAT!? YOU SAYIN' I AIN'T MANLY ENOUGH TO FIGHT!?" came Elfman's angry voice, clearly having taken offence to Vanitas' comment.

Sora then raised an eyebrow and looked at Vanitas curiously. "How come _you_ haven't offered to take me on? Wouldn't it be best to go against someone whose power is like Xehanort's?"

"Normally, yes." Vanitas said. When he was finished with the board, he leaned back in his chair. "But, it's good to have a bit of experience in terms of fighting strategy. The guild members are some of the most diverse fighters you'll come across. The organization members probably won't just have Keyblades, and they'll use any trick they can to take you out. No doubt about it."

Before Sora could respond, he heard someone walking up behind him. He turned his head and immediately jumped from his chair and into Vanitas' lap, seeing how it was Erza who was standing behind him.

Erza held out a friendly hand to him. "Come now, Sora. I know I went a bit overboard with our match, but there's no need to be afraid."

Vanitas eyed her suspiciously. "What exactly did you do?" he asked her.

"NEVER SPEAK OF IT!" Sora answered quickly.

Vanitas was silent for a moment before nodding in agreement. He then shoved Sora off of him and continued to relax in his chair.

"Ow, that hurt!" Sora said while rubbing his backside.

"Serves you right for acting like an idiot." Vanitas said back to him.

Sora rolled his eyes and got back onto his feet. After he brushed himself off, he pointed towards the door behind him with his thumb. "I'm thinking of exploring the town a little more. Do you want to join me?"

"Thanks, but… I'm not interested." Vanitas answered.

Sora sighed. "You know, you sound a lot like this guy I know. He's just as moody, only he wields a WAAAY bigger sword than we do."

"Yeah, yeah, good stuff." Vanitas replied.

"Aw, c'mon! You're no fun." Sora said.

"Does it look like I care?" Vanitas asked.

At that moment, Sora and Vanitas were giving each other harsh glares, both being annoyed by the other. Sensing the tension, Wendy stepped in between them.

"GUYS, PLEASE STOP! THIS IS SO MEAN!" she said, clearly not happy with the conflict between the two.

The Keybearers saw how unhappy she was. Glancing at each other for a brief moment, they both sighed simultaneously.

"Okay… fine, I may have been a bit harsh… sorry." Vanitas said.

"Sorry for acting like a pain." Sora replied back to him.

The other members of the guild regarded the scene before them and chuckled for a bit.

"Man, Wendy was able to stop a potential brawl by 'asking'." One said with surprise.

"Certainly different to how Erza does it." Another member said.

Erza's hears picked up on what the member said and turned towards their direction with a fierce look on her face. "I beg your pardon?" she asked.

With that, many of the members took their leave from the guild hall, not wanting to feel the wrath of the mage in question. Sora had pondered for a moment on whether or not he should've joined them.

"Don't bother." Vanitas said to Sora, seeming to know what he was thinking. "Erza would be right here waiting for you, so there's no point.

Sora chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Am I that obvious?"

"Yes." Vanitas replied instantly.

The two heard a chuckle. They turned towards the source of the noise and saw Mirajane walking out of the kitchen with a pot of stew. At this, Sora started to drool slightly, while Vanitas clapped his hands together and rubbed them briskly.

"Anyone for stew?" she asked.

With that, Sora zoomed up to her and, somehow, pulled out a large bowl from one of his pockets and held it in front of her with an ecstatic look on his face.

"Here you go Sora." She said as she gave Sora a portion. She looked over to Vanitas. "You you like some, Vanitas?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Vanitas asked in response.

Vanitas got a bowl from the bar counter and helped himself you some of the stew. After that, she served the remaining members that hadn't been scared off by Erza. After Sora had finished his portion in record time, he stretched his muscles and made his way out of the hall. "Well, I'm going to check out the town. Does anyone want to come with me?"

Wendy raised up her hand. "I'll go with you." She said.

Derek also raised his head and raised a fist into the air. "Yeah! let's go!"

Erza smirked. "I think I might join you, it would be good to have a relaxing stroll through the town."

Sora gave them two thumbs up and continued his way out the door, Erza and Wendy not too far behind him.

Vanitas saw them go out. He waited for a moment before picking up a copy of 'Sorcerer's Weekly' and began glancing through the articles. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Makarov coming up to him, a look of confusion on his face.

"Something I can help you with, Makarov?"

"Are you okay, kid?" Makarov asked him.

" _Kid!?_ " Vanitas thought. He bottled up his annoyance and proceeded to answer the master's question. "I'm okay. Why do you ask?"

Makarov sighed before saying his piece. "Ever since the Organization made an appearance, you seemed like you were troubled, something that rarely happens to you. Now that Sora's here, you look pretty focused on, well, avoiding him. Do you two not get on or something?"

Vanitas stayed silent for a moment. He threw the magazine onto the table he had the chessboard on and rubbed his face.

It's not something for you to worry about, Makarov. It's just that Sora reminds me of someone I once knew… and it wasn't under the best of circumstances." Vanitas answered.

"Is this related to your time with Xehanort?" Makarov asked.

Vanitas solemnly nodded, his hands automatically clenching into fists at the sound of his former master's name. Makarov saw the tension Vanitas was feeling and tried to come up with an idea to help reduce it. That was when an idea came to mind. Makarov held onto the sides of his wheelchair and slowly lifted himself off of it. Vanitas noticed this and widened his eyes with surprise, as he knew how the elder wizard had great difficulty with using his legs. The guild master managed to stand up onto his feet, perfect balanced as he stared down at them. After a few seconds of successfully not falling over, he shot a fist into the air and grinned widely.

"YEEAAHH! TOLD YOU PORLYUSICA! ENOUGH TRAINING AND I CAN USE MY-phew I'm tired."

Makarov plopped back down onto his chair and began fanning himself with his hands. Vanitas eyed the master with a confused look on his face. "What the heck was that about?" he asked in bewilderment.

Makarov finished fanning himself and answered Vanitas' question. "I've been working on getting my legs back to normal, but it's hard work. I bet my previous record just now, so I'm making progress."

"How long were you able to stay up before?" Vanitas asked.

"Half a second… that usually ended with my nose getting flattened." Makarov answered, his hand quickly went to his nose and he rubbed it briskly.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you end up in the wheelchair in the first place?"

Makarov was silent for a moment before he looked at Vanitas with a look of confusion and he shrugged his shoulders. "To be honest, I haven't a clue. All I remember was waking up and seeing everyone in the guild gathered around me. They seemed pretty upset about it, so I decided not to ask."

"Surely you're curious." Vanitas said.

"A little… but I don't let it bother me much. Besides, like you saw, I'll be back in shape soon enough." Makarov responded, followed by a haughty laugh. When he was finished, he began to look a little serious. "Just like you can't let your past bother you and bring you down like that."

Vanitas eyed Makarov suspiciously as the guild master continued to speak. "I know that with all that's been happening it's difficult for you to take it all in, especially since there are a lot of familiar faces you don't want to see pooping up, but there's no need to let it all bring you down. Ever since you came here you released yourself from all that anger and evil that turned you into the guy you're afraid you'll be again. You had the strength to free yourself, just as you have the strength to stand up to your past. Don't ever give up kid, and you'll be happy and better for it."

Vanitas was silent for a moment. He then formed a smirk on his face and got up from his chair. "Think Sora, Wendy and Derek are far ahead?"

…

"No matter how many times I go through this city it's always so cool." Sora said.

Wendy, Derek and Sora were all currently walking through the Magnolia market district, simply just to see what was going on. Sora, and Derek since he wasn't in the city for too long, were amazed by the different items being sold, the level of positive energy being spread through the market and, most importantly, how good the food was.

Strangely enough, a few minutes after they all left the guild, Erza sprinted off in a random direction, frightening the remaining three from the sudden action, but they quickly got over it. Soon after, the boys decided to 'taste test' all the goods sold at the food stalls.

Wendy was surprised to see the two boys practically vacuuming all the food they could fit in after passing by a burger stall. The stall owner didn't mind in the slightest, as he was glad to see that someone loved his cooking so much. Derek paid for both his and Sora's portions and asked Wendy if she wanted something to eat.

"No thanks. I kind of have my eyes, and stomach, set on something else today." She said. Her eyes met the burger stall owner and suddenly looked nervous, afraid that she might've offended the owner. She wasted no time in bowing apologetically. "I-I'm sorry." She said.

"No problem." The stall owner said.

Sora and Derek chuckled at the their younger companion. Sora then looked around and was impressed by all the different food stands. He then turned towards Wendy. "So, what do you have your eye on?"

"Hey Sora!" came a familiar voice.

The Fairy Tail trio turned around and saw a stand being attended by Lisanna and… Erza. Both were wearing white shirts, long skirts, red ties and sailor caps. The sign for the stand said 'Sea-Salt treats'.

"Hey Lisanna. Hey Erza, so this is where you went to." Sora said with a smirk. He, Derek and Wendy went up to the stand. "You guys got your own stand?" Sora asked.

"Indeed we do. A while ago we were introduced to the most delicious dessert we ever had, so we are taking it upon ourselves to spread the knowledge of this amazing treat across the world. ALL MUST KNOW!" Erza said passionately, causing Sora and Derek to look quite perplexed, while Lisanna and Wendy giggled at her.

"In case you ask, Erza somehow picked up on the treat we're serving, so she insisted on helping." Lisanna explained.

"No issue here." Sora looked at the items on the stand. His eyes widened when he recognised the item in question. He looked back at the stall owners with starry eyes.

"You guys… have SEA SALT ICE-CREAM!" Sora said excitedly.

Lisanna nodded. "Yep. It was actually Vanitas who told us about it. So, after a while, we thought we'd tell the town know. Max was supposed to handle the stall, but he had to meet someone. So, I'm filling in for him. Do you like the outfit?" Lisanna twirled around to give Sora a good look at the outfit, to which Sora smiled at.

"Wow, it really suits you, Lisanna." Wendy said.

"Not bad." Sora said.

"You'll draw in crowds in no time." Derek said with a cheeky smile.

Lisanna smirked at the trio. "Thanks guys." She then picked up a bowl and an ice-cream scooper. "You guys want to try it?"

"YES PLEASE!" Sora said instantly.

"Um, sure. Why not?" Derek said, a little baffled by Sora's reaction.

"I'd love some." Wendy said.

….

Vanitas had been walking around the town for some time, hoping to catch up with Sora and the rest. He was always amazed at the fact that no matter how many times he went through this town, he would somehow come across an entirely new part and get lost. Granted, he could just teleport onto the top of the houses and see where he was, but this would be better to get a lay of the land.

"Where the heck have they gone off to?" Vanitas wondered.

He took a few more steps forward when his nose caught the scent of something… familiar. It took him a second to familiarise himself with the scent. "What… what is this?"

"This is the scent of the Nobodies."

Vanitas quickly summoned the Oblivion, spun around and took his battle stance. The person that spoke wore the same black coat as the organization, but his hood was up so he couldn't be seen. He held up his right hand and chuckled, causing Vanitas to raise an eyebrow.

"Peace. I mean you no harm." The figure said. From the sound of his voice, it was a man under the hood.

"Yeah. Like I'd believe that bud." Vanitas said back.

The man in the coat shook his head and sighed. "You don't seem keen on talking, do you?" he said. He then pointed his hand towards Vanitas. "Very well." With that, a blast of crimson energy shot out from his hand, as well as a few rose that surrounded it.

(Music- "The 13th Struggle" - Kingdom Hearts II soundtrack)

Vanitas wasted to time in slicing the attack into two, causing the halves to collide with a wall behind Vanitas. However, since it was sliced, its power was reduced, so the wall wasn't too badly damaged. Vanitas then pulled back his Keyblade and shot into the ground. However, when he did, the black and red energy to show where he was had vanished.

The coated figure smirked underneath the hood. He jumped high into the air and built upas much dark energy as he could. When he did, he fired back towards the ground. "Did you think that you can hide from me in the ground?" he asked out loud.

Vanitas then suddenly phased out, not from the ground, but from the side of a building. Catching his opponent by surprise, Vanitas struck him in the side of his head, sending him flying through the air. Vanitas shot a fire spell from behind him and gave himself a strong enough blast to shoo t forward, close enough to grab his opponent by the leg, spin him around and send him flying back towards the ground. Upon collision, the ground formed a crater with many spider web cracks.

The coated figure had lost his patience. He opened a corridor of darkness beneath him and sank through. Vanitas lunged towards his opponent and hoped to catch him before it was too late. However, the coated figure dodged out of the way, with the corridor open. Vanitas went through the corridor, which his opponent quickly sealed as soon as he did.

"Hm. Guess he wasn't as smart as I thought." He said. He turned and started to make his way towards a more public part of the town. He looked behind a wall and saw three people eating at a stall. Out of the three of them, one of them caught his eye. He smirked as he soon recognised him.

"It's been a long time… Sora." He said

As he was about to make his way towards the Keybearer, another corridor opened in front of him. As he was startled, a fist shot out from the portal and sent the coated figure flying. He was sent onto his back, sliding towards another wall. As soon as he collided, Vanitas shot out from the corridor and landed over his opponent, his Keyblade pointed towards his throat.

"It was you? You captured them?" Vanitas asked. The dark warrior had looked like he had seen a ghost, but at the same time he was clearly angered by what it was he saw, as his eyes were glowing red again.

The coated figure tried to think of a way out of this situation as he spoke to Vanitas again. "No. I don't work with them. I simply knew where they were. And now you do as well."

At this, Vanitas looked perplexed. He used his free hand to grab on to the collar of his coat and brought his face close to him. Vanitas' expression was more stern and serious rather than angry, mainly he needed to focus and couldn't allow anger to mess up his perspective.

"How did you now? And why tell me?" he asked.

"Because the organization you are fighting… is a sorry excuse for what could be a group that represents true power. My wish is to take it for myself. To make it what it is meant to be." The coated figure said. He chuckled slightly before speaking again. "But to answer your questions, I know of it because I need to know more of my enemy. I discovered it when during my… investigation."

Vanitas' eyes narrowed. "And me?" he asked.

"You… Sora… anyone else who wishes to fight against them." He answered. He raised his arms up slightly and tilted his head to one side. "The enemy of my enemy is my-" he didn't get to finish as Vanitas held the tip of his Keyblade over one of his eyes.

"If you even think about finishing that sentence then things won't end well for you." The dark warrior said.

The coated figure was silent for a moment before he chuckled slightly again. He then summoned dark, thorny vines appeared from his sleeve and shot towards Vanitas. The dark warrior saw them coming and dashed away, narrowly avoiding them. Now that he had enough distance, the figure got back onto his feet and jumped high into the air. He landed on a roof and looked down towards Vanitas.

"Get back here!" Vanitas exclaimed.

The coated figure held out his hand and summoned a scythe that had a green handle, like a flower stem, and the blade was pink, like a flower head. He spun it in his hand for a moment before pulling his hood down. It was revealed that he had long pink hair and blue eyes. He looked back at Vanitas and leered at him.

"If you insist." The figure said. With that, he vanished in a red and black blur and reappeared behind Vanitas. He held the sharp edge of the weapon over Vanitas' throat. The figure smirked at him. "My name is Marluxia. If you will not help me… then I have no use for you." He said.

Without warning, another Vanitas appeared behind Marluxia and leapt high into the air and slammed the Keyblade back into the ground, creating a large shard of ice that trapped Marluxia's lower half. Confused, the pink-haired reaper looked back at the Vanitas he trapped. That Vanitas suddenly faded away. At his, Marluxia widened his eyes.

(Music end)

"What is this?" he asked.

"A little trick of mine." Vanitas said. He walked over to Marluxia's side and took his scythe. Vanitas was about to drop it when he raised an eyebrow and began observing it more closely. "Not a bad weapon… for a guy who can't hold his own against a kid." Vanitas let the weapon drop and stood in front of Marluxia, a stern and angered look present in his eyes.

"Let's get something straight here. You don't get to decide if I'm of any use to _anyone_. And I certainly don't like the idea of teaming up with anyone who worked with or for that psycho." Vanitas then took a step back, keeping the stern expression he was wearing. "Thanks for the info… but I'm going to need more. How do I get from this city to there?"

"Why bother walking when-" before he could finish, Vanitas Held Marluxia by the point of his weapon, causing him to stop talking.

"Answer the question. Thanks to you I don't have much patience left."

….

"Wow… I didn't think you could eat that much." Lisanna said.

She had just seen Sora devour tons of Sea-Salt ice cream. Granted, she thought that the ice cream was delicious, but she couldn't see how Sora had managed to eat so much so quickly without getting a brain freeze. Wendy was enjoying a bar of the frozen treat as she also saw Sora eat so much, but she just laughed.

"Is there something funny?" Sora asked, taking a quick break between bites.

Wendy shrugged her shoulders. "It's a little weird seeing someone who eats like Natsu." She answered.

At this, Sora looked a little confused. "Like Natsu?"

"He devours anything he sees in an instant." Derek said. He had taken a break from the ice cream and was enjoying a slice of cake. "I'd bet if you let your arm on the table long enough they'd both go for it." he said to Lisanna.

"I guess you wouldn't get brain freeze from doing that."

All stopped what they were doing when they heard someone speaking. The turned towards the source and saw that it was Vanitas making their way towards them.

"Vanitas?" Derek said

At this, Vanitas frowned. "You sound surprised."

"Didn't think you knew how to be fun since you decided to stay behind." Derek said back.

At this, Vanitas thought about summoning his Keyblade and freezing Derek solid. However, he decided against it. As of now, he was in a hurry.

"Lisanna. Can I talk to you in private for a sec?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh, um… sure." Lisanna said, a little surprised that she would be wanting to talk to her. She turned to Erza. "Can you look after the stall for a bit?"

"It would be my pleasure." Erza said. She then looked over to Sora, who was still eating like mad, and smacked him across the back of his head with a spatula. "Stop eating so much. You're going to get fat!" Erza exclaimed.

"Oh come on! It's been a long time since I had actual food to eat!" Sora said, remembering how he had usually lived off of rations from the Gummi ship. He then suddenly remembered the tea party he was in at the mysterious tower. Those cakes were nice, but he didn't get as much as he would've liked.

"Hmph. It seems we have another glutton on our hands." Erza said, getting ready to hit Sora again. Seeing this, Sora backed away from the stand, finishing off what he already started to scoff. "Thank you for showing proper curtesy now." She said.

Sora looked over to Wendy and gave her a worried look. "Is she _always_ this scary?" he asked.

"It's better not to ask." Derek said.

Lisanna giggled. She pulled off her hat and went from behind the stand. She and Vanitas went off, with the rest of the group watching them go.

"I wonder what Vanitas wanted to talk to Lisanna?" Sora asked.

"Maybe he's going to ask her out." Derek suggested.

At this, Wendy went as red as a cherry tomato. No matter how hard she tried, she would always get embarrassed from hearing anything to do with Romance. Erza saw this and smiled at her innocence. She then looked towards where Lisanna and Vanitas went off to. However, her eyes narrowed as she looked in that direction.

" _Vanitas seemed… a little worried. Is he alright?_ " she thought.

…

After Vanitas and Lisanna got some distance from the market area, the dark warrior motioned for them to stop. As they did, Vanitas looked at her with a serious expression. At this, Lisanna gave him a look of surprise.

"Whoa. What's with that look? Haven't seen that in a while." She said jokingly.

Vanitas sighed in response. He put his hands in his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He handed it to a still perplexed Lisanna. She took it and unfolded the material. When it was fully unfolded, she scanned the page, curious to see what was on it. However, after she finished, she read back over it again and again, a look of shock and amazement was present on her face. she looked back at Vanitas.

"Is… Vanitas is this…?"

Vanitas nodded, a small smirk appearing on his face having seen Lisanna take the news well. "Yep. We finally know where they are."

"How did you find out?" she asked, clearly amazed.

"I found another organization member who spilled the beans. He's planning a coup and wanted me to be his heanchman." He said. He cracked his knuckles and chuckled slightly. "Didn't work out well."

Lisanna slammed her fist into her hand, much like Natsu would, and gave him a blade-like grin, slightly surprising Vanitas. "Alright! After so long, we can finally help!" she said.

Vanitas grinned back in response. "Yeah. Let's head back to the guild hall and tell Makarov. It's time we saved those girls, and we're going to need all the help we can get.

 **[Alright, I'm going to leave it at that for the moment. I know this chapter seemed a little diverse, but I thought I'd try to add as much as I could, considering that I haven't been focusing on this sorry for a while. Sorry about that. But, at least I managed to continue on with the story a little bit.**

 **Well, that's all from me for the time being. Hope you're all having a nice day and I'll see you all later.]**


	16. Taking Action

**Hi all, hope you're all feeling well today. Now HERE's a chapter I reckon no one thought they'd see. But, as promised, 'Fairy Tail: Dark Void' is BACK!**

 **After what had happened in the last chapter, that being where Vanitas has finally located the hostages that the organization had kidnapped, it's time for him, the guild and Sora to take action and rescue them. unfortunately, things aren't going to start off well in this scenario.**

 **Also, before we get into it, I know that I said that I was going to try and do a Reboot for this story, mainly because of people's attitude towards Vanitas and because it was the original idea I had for the story, but I am NOT giving up on this story. I know I've been writing other stories, but as I said before, when I start a story, I finish it.**

 **Right, without further a due, let's get on with this chapter.**

"Are you sure that you want to do this?"

Vanitas and Lisanna were in the former's flat preparing themselves for their own mission. After Vanitas had interrogated Marluxia about the information regarding the location of the kidnapped girls they learned about in their first mission together. They needed to take action, not just because they were in danger, but because they were in the hands of Organization XIII.

Lisanna was dressing up in a new outfit, consisting of a pink blouse, a black leather jacket, light blue jeans and sneakers. She looked back at Vanitas with a serious expression.

"You bet I'm sure, there's no way that I'm leaving those girls to suffer any longer!" she exclaimed.

Vanitas looked at her with slight concern. He knew that, while it was good to see that she was ready, she was the kind of girl to take serious risks that could endanger herself if it meant saving someone else. He remembered how she was angered to the point of willing to murder the coated figure after he claimed that he killed the kidnapped victims.

Lisanna then looked a little guilty, lightly grasping the collar of her jacket. "I still think we should've done what you suggested and told the guild with what we're up to, though."

At this, Vanitas shook his head. "No way. Don't you remember how Makarov reacted after we told him about what happened on the mission we went on with Natsu, Gajeel and Happy?" he pointed out.

At this, Lisanna shivered. After they told Makarov what had happened, he was beyond furious at their recklessness, telling them that they weren't allowed to confront the Organization members until they knew more about how to handle them. Sora had confronted seven of them, but he didn't know if all of the same members were still joined with them. Lisanna wanted to tell the guild about their plan, but Vanitas reminded her that Makarov would bar them from this rescue mission.

"I guess…" Lisanna said, still seemingly conflicted.

Vanitas looked towards one of the windows, catching his reflection in it. He had gotten back his red and black shirt, fully repaired thanks to Mirajane, only he was wearing the same unversed jacket he wore, as well as black jeans and hiking boots. He wore a belt that had the Fairy Tail emblem for the buckle, which also carried a small bag that carried a few healing potions in case he needed them.

"Hey, Lisanna?" Vanitas started.

"Yeah?" Lisanna asked.

Vanitas was silent before speaking. "There's something I should tell you." He walked over to the couch and lowered his head, staring at his feet with stern eyes. "I've decided… whether or not we succeed in this mission… after, I'm leaving Fairy Tail."

That admission caused Lisanna to look at him with shock. She dashed over towards Vanitas and pinned him back against the back of the chair, glaring at him.

"What are you talking about!?" she roared.

Vanitas' expression remained blank as he explained. "I made a mistake. Fairy Tail, as great as it has been, isn't the place I am meant to be. It never was."

This was causing Lisanna to become upset, but she held back the tears for the time being. "Why would you do this NOW!? After all we've been through? After the fun we all had together!?"

"I came to this decision a while ago… come to think of it, it was after my tussle with Demyx." Vanitas answered.

This caused Lisanna to slap Vanitas hard across the face. Vanitas winced slightly, as it stung more than he would've anticipated. He looked back at Lisanna, who was unable to hold back the tears any longer.

"Come to think of it? … COME TO THINK OF IT!?" she roared. "You're saying that you're leaving the friends you made and you're making it sound like its NO BIG DEAL!?"

At this, Vanitas' stare became a mix of steel and ice after hearing her say that. Despite Lisanna pushing him down, he easily pushed himself forward and stood up on his feet. Lisanna was slightly surprised to see this kind of glare.

"Don't think… even for a second… that I'm doing this because I want to." He stated coldly.

"Then why are you going to do it?" she asked.

Vanitas clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. His eyes briefly flashed red before he managed to get his emotions back under control. He took in a deep breath before speaking again. "Let's get going." Vanitas said plainly. He walked past Lisanna and went for the door. Opening it, he looked over at Lisanna, who was still glaring at him. He sighed on the inside, not wanting to do anything to upset her further. As he walked out the door, he felt guilt swelling up inside of him.

" _It'd be better for me to be as far away from the guild before it's too late._ " He thought.

As he and Lisanna were exiting the building, neither were aware that they were being watched. On the outside of the building, Sora, who was hanging upside down, was slowly being lowered until his eyes were level with the centre of the window. He looked on curiously and seriously.

"Well, that's odd." Sora said out loud.

"What's odd? What's going on?"

Sora looked up and saw Natsu, who was holding him by the leg, looking at him like a child waiting for a piece of candy to fall out of the sky.

"Would you wait a second?" Lucy, who was holding onto Natsu, exclaimed.

"I hope he gets something soon, I don't think I can last much longer." Happy said. He was mid-air, holding onto Lucy. They were all hanging like a chain in the air as they were spying on Vanitas and Lisanna.

"What did they say?" Natsu asked in anticipation.

Sora looked in at the empty room with a look of concern. "Well, I think they're going on an 'off the books' mission, and…"

"And what?" Lucy, who was now curious, asked.

"… Well… Vanitas said he's leaving the guild."

Happy looked down at the three with a surprised look. "WAIT, SAY WHAT!?" he yelled.

In Happy's surprise, he accidently loosened his grip on Lucy and let her drop, along with Natsu and Sora. They all screamed as they fell towards the ground, crashing into the ground painfully, one landing on top of the other.

"Ow." Sora said.

"That kinda hurt." Natsu moaned.

"What were you thinking, stupid cat." Lucy growled at Happy.

Happy flew down to the dog pile and looked concerned. "Sorry, I was just surprised by what Sora said.

Natsu pulled himself out of the pile and regarded Sora. "Yeah, what was that about?"

"Well-" before Sora could say anything, they all heard the sound of the main building door opening. In response, they all dashed behind the building. They all slowly poked their heads out to see Lisanna and Vanitas walking out. The group hiding behind the building were afraid that they would be caught, but they didn't seem to notice them at all. A second later, Lisanna transformed into a massive bird and Vanitas turned his Keyblade into its wing form; the two flew off into the air and the group in hiding saw them go. Sora couldn't help but be jealous at Vanitas could do that with his Keyblade.

" _First that armoured guy in Disney Castle, and now Vanitas is showing me up. Come ON!"_ Sora couldn't help but think.

"Phew, they didn't see us." Happy said.

"Thank goodness." Sora said with genuine relief, while still annoyed at Vanitas.

"Weird, he'd have noticed us normally." Natsu said.

"I guess he's got a lot on his mind." Lucy suggested.

Sora then looked on at the two, a slight bit of concern arising within him. He knew that they could take care of themselves, but what concerned him was that Vanitas was wanting to leave the guild. From what he could tell, it was a great place for him to be, helped him on a better path. He wouldn't do it unless…

Sora's eyes suddenly widened. He turned back to the Fairy Tail wizards and quickly helped them up, much to their surprise, given how fast he was moving.

"Huh? You okay bud?" Natsu asked.

Sora shook his head. "No. I think I know why Vanitas is leaving the guild."

At this, Lucy and Happy looked surprised. "Really? What's the problem then?" Lucy asked.

"I'll tell you when we get to the guild hall. I need to talk to Makarov." Sora said. As soon as he finished speaking, he sprung off and proceeded to sprint back over to the guild hall.

"HEY! QUIT IT WITH NOT ANSWERING QUESTIONS!" Natsu roared as he sprinted after him.

"I guess Sora remembered something important." Happy said.

"Yeah… he seems a bit more serious than before." Lucy commented. She then motioned for Happy to follow her and then made their way over to the guild hall, curious as to what Sora had to say.

….

After an hour of flying, Lisanna and Vanitas landed in a forest that seemed a lot quieter than it seemed. Vanitas returned his Keyblade to its original form while Lisanna returned back into her human form. The former looked around the area with narrow eyes as he looked for clues.

"So, what did the guy say in terms of finding the place?" Lisanna asked.

"He said that the prison in based here in the forest." He started. He walked over to one of the trees and glided his hand over the surface of one of them. "One of them has the letter 'ꭓ' carved on the back."

Lisanna glared at Vanitas. "Great. And how does that help us?" she asked.

"Said tree is the entrance into the prison." Vanitas answered.

Lisanna didn't respond. Instead, she turned away from Vanitas and went in search of the tree that Vanitas was talking about. Vanitas watched her go. He felt a great level of guilt for having withheld his intentions for so long, but he wasn't sure how to bring it up before.

As he went back to searching for the tree in question, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest, It was strong enough to send him onto his knees. Gasping for air, he grasped the side of a random tree and gritted his teeth as his pain started to increase. He was soon coated in a black aura that surrounded his whole being. This lasted for a few seconds before the aura slowly faded away. As it did, the pain Vanitas lessened bit by bit until it was finally gone.

He panted heavily as he tried to get his breathing under control. The loss of breath control had mainly been from the shock of the sudden pain he was feeling, not because of how much it hurt, but because of what it meant.

" _I thought it was finally the time._ " He thought, ironically, with a small grin.

He stood up, pressing his hand up against the tree as he got back onto his feet. As he did, he felt some sort of irregularity with the bark of the tree. He felt it again, just to make sure, before he turned to look at it. He allowed himself a small chuckle before summoning his Keyblade.

"So that's where you are?" Vanitas said to himself. He turned around and found Lisanna circling one of the trees. "Hey! I found it!"

Lisanna looked over at his direction and, unsurprisingly, she was still glaring daggers at him. She walked over to him and folded her arms. "Great. Glad you thought of telling me, you're so kind." She said to him sarcastically.

Vanitas looked at her with another glare of steel and ice, but her anger was already too high for her to be affected. Instead of replying to the comment, Vanitas turned his attention to the tree. He aimed his Keyblade towards the mark and focused. In an instant, a beam shot out of the tip and hit the mark.

In an instant, the mark glowed orange and began to crack. The mark faded from the tree, but as it did, the tree became enveloped in the same light. In seconds the tree fell to pieces onto the ground. In its place was a circular layer of glass where the trunk once was. He looked over at Lisanna, who still wasn't happy.

"Shall we?" he asked rhetorically, before raising his Keyblade up high and brought it down, smashing the glass.

….

Sora burst through the door and ran through the hall like a man possessed. His sudden actions caused most to jump, while Mirajane widened her eyes in surprise, Wendy looked concerned, while Derek, who was losing against Carla in a game of checkers, fell out of his seat.

"HO BE DA… Sora what' s the matter?" Derek asked as he tried to get back up. As he tried, however, he accidentally bang his head against the bottom side of the table collapsed again, groaning in pain.

Carla shook her head and motioned towards the boy. "Ladies and gentlemen. Our resident Demonslayer." She said sarcastically.

Making sure to avoid the table this time, Derek got back onto his feet and quickly caught up with Sora. Grabbing him by the shoulder, he turned the Keybearer around and looked at him with a quirked eyebrow. "Seriously, man. What's wrong?"

"Vanitas in trouble. I need to talk to Makarov." Sora explained.

"If you have something to say to him, you have something to say to us all."

The Keybearer and the Demonslayer turned to see Erza with her arms crossed. Sora instinctively clung onto Derek, remembering the 'training' they did earlier. He looked over Derek's shoulder to see the other members looking his way, having heard Erza's comment. One of them saw Sora's reaction to the scarlet-haired warrior and said "We know how you feel man."

Ignoring the comment, Erza said "Sora. What is the problem?"

Sora slowly emerged from behind Derek's back. Steeling himself, he took in a deep breath before speaking. "Okay. What I'm about to say is going to be a shocker. But I guess you all need to know."

Levy emerged from the crowd. "What is it?" she asked.

"Well… the thing is-"

Before Sora could finish, Natsu burst through one of the walls, perhaps forgetting to use a door in his anger. And from the amount of fire covering the Dragonslayer's head, he was furious.

"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!? HOW COULD YOU KNOW WHY VANITAS IS LEAVING THE GUILD!?"

"… Thanks, Natsu." Sora said with a deadpanned tone and expression.

The Keybearer was now facing a guild of shocked faces,. Needless to say that they were taking the news as well as he suspected. Although Natsu's outburst wasn't doing anything to help.

"Vanitas… is Leaving?" Wendy asked, now seeming a little upset.

"Why would he leave? I thought he liked it here?" Gray, who was sitting on one of the benched, said as he looked at Sora with a suspicious glance.

Sora was silent for a moment before speaking again. "Well… just want to make sure, Vanitas had yellow eyes before, right?"

The guild members nodded. When they saw his new eye colour for the first time, many were surprised, especially Lisanna, who thought that they suited him well (which earned her a ton of teasing for a week).

"Well… the yellow eyes were from him getting a source of external power.

"Complicated?" Macou asked.

Sora's face now wore an expression of worry and concern.

…

Vanitas and Lisanna were now walking through a dark tunnel, nothing to illuminate their path expect for Vanitas' Keyblade, which had fire coating the top to act as a torch. He looked back and forth between the path ahead of them and Lisanna, wondering if he should bother to speak. In the end, he relented and looked back at the animal take-over mage.

"How are we going to fight these guys?" Vanitas asked. "If we see the girls first, we should try to free them as quickly as possible. I can send them through a corridor."

Lisanna was silent as she heard his idea. When he was finished, she simply said "Sure."

"… That's it?" Vanitas asked.

"Anything to get you to shut up." Lisanna commented bitterly.

Vanitas glared at her. He knew that telling her that he was leaving would be something hard to stomach, but he thought that she'd put it behind her for the mission at least, and save the disembowelling for afterwards. He focused on the path in front of him.

"Fine. Got nothing to say to you either." Vanitas replied bitterly.

"That's no way to treat a lady. _Sniff-Sniff._ "

At the sound of the new voice, Vanitas readied his battle stance and coated his free hand in dark energy, while Lisanna transformed into her cat form. The individual was some distance away, preventing him from being seen by the light properly. However, the outline of a short individual with messy hair, as well as the outlines of three, taller, men were behind him.

"Quite right. You need to learn how to talk to the pretty ones, dude."

"Such an opportunity should not be wasted in such a way."

"I agree… not that I care or anything."

Lisanna tilted her head to one side, thinking that she heard the voices before. Vanitas, however, glared fiercely at the individuals.

"Who… are… you?" he asked, his voice filled with venom.

"That's no way to speak to allies of Fairy Tail." Said the first speaker.

It was then that Lisanna remembered where she heard the voices before. Lowering her claws, she let off a small chuckle. "Didn't think that I'd see you guys for a while." She said.

The only part of Vanitas that moved was his left eyebrow, confused at the sudden change in the situation. "You know these guys?" he asked.

He increased the power in the Keyblade, increasing the intensity of the flame. The flames glowed brightly enough to reveal the face of the shortest man, having a large nose, jawline with a five o clock shadow, wild hair and wore a white tuxedo. Behind him was a young man with pale skin, spiky hair and wore a blue dress shirt. Another had dark skin, black hair that was tied up at the back and wore a full tuxedo. The third looked to be the youngest, with a head of well-kept blond hair, a pink dress shirt and a silver watch around his wrist.

"Greetings. Allow us to introduce ourselves." The smaller man started. "You may call me Ichiya, the individuals behind me Hibiki, Ren and Eve. We are the Trimens of Blue Pegasus."

As soon as he said that, they all suddenly struck poses as if they were readying themselves for a action themed photoshoot. Lisanna sighed, seeming to have dealt with this before. Vanitas, while having lowered his guard, still kept a sharp eye on the group.

"Blue Pegasus, huh? The pretty boys and girls of the mages?" he asked.

"Don't underestimate us, young ally. In fact, we would like to lend our strength in your mission to save the maidens. _Sniff-Sniff._ "

"How did you know about that?" Lisanna asked. As soon as she did, the Trimens went up to her, their eyes sparkling, making her slightly nervous.

"I must say, you are looking rather dashing in your current form, Miss Lisanna." Hibiki commented.

"I agree, you look rather stunning." Eve added.

"You look nice… not that I care or anything." Ren also added.

This resulted in the three who spoke to receive a single round house kick that knocked them all off of their feet in one hit. Lisanna crossed her arms over her chest and looked at the beaten forms of the young men with a strong blush on her face.

"Perverts." She commented.

Vanitas shook his head lightly, not liking the idea of being around these guys any longer. As he was about to move forward, however, Ichiya somehow managed to zip right in front of him and gave the dark warrior a look of curiosity.

" _Sniff-Sniff_ … interesting." He stared. "Tell me, young man. What is your name?"

"… Vanitas."

"I see… forgive me, but I couldn't help but notice that your magic is giving off a powerful _parfum_."

"…What?" Vanitas asked.

"Scent." Hibiki answered. "He can read a person's magical power by smelling it."

"Quite right, and you, young Vanitas, are giving off quite the level of power." Ichiya added. "Where did you learn such power?"

"From the same guy responsible for kidnapping those hostages." Vanitas answered sharply. This caused the Trimens to look at his with surprise. "And if you don't mind, I'd like to save those girls and cut off his head if we can find them."

As Vanitas spoke, a small, dark aura appeared around his form. After he finished speaking, he felt another sharp pain go through him. This time, however, he was prepared for it. he stood still, only his eyes reacting to the pain by shrinking in size slightly.

"Then we must not waste anymore time." Ichiya said. He then struck an unusual pose and pointed down towards the tunnel. "Let us proceed. I assure you, to which Miss Lisanna shall agree, that we can be of great aid to your mission."

Vanitas felt the pain fade. He had heard what Ichiya had said and thought about whether or not they should come. He looked back at the younger members of the team, seeing a similar fire of determination in their eyes that was present in the other members of Fairy Tail. In the end, he let out a sigh of defeat.

"Okay. I guess we could use the help." Vanitas relented. Although he couldn't help but question his decision after they all got together and struck a random pose as if posing for a photoshoot.

As they did, Ichiya slightly narrowed his eyes at the dark warrior. " _It may be a good thing we arrived in time… he may not have much power left to spare._ "

….

"WAIT! SAY WHAT!?"

Natsu was roaring as he was riding on top of a magic mobile, which didn't have any effect on him as Wendy cast the Toya spell on him, preventing motion sickness. With him, was Sora (who he was yelling at), Derek, Lucy, Gray, Wendy, Carla, Happy and Erza, the latter, driving the vehicle at top- speed.

Derek looked at Sora in confusion. "You're saying that Vanitas is sick?" he asked.

Sora nodded. "Kind of. It's similar to that magic deficiency that Lucy was talking about. Although instead of losing magic, Vanitas is losing his darkness. The one thing that makes up his existence."

"How did you know this?" Erza demanded.

Forgetting his fear of the queen of the fairies for now, Sora explained. "You guys know about how Vanitas was born, right?" he asked. The group nodded, as Natsu and Happy had explained to the rest of the team about it after they returned. Needless to say, it was quite the surprise.

"Well, Ventus' heart was damaged pretty badly. I think that Vanitas, who's heart would've been damaged as well in the process, would've gone through the same thing. Ventus was able to survive after melding with mine, repairing the damage."

"How do you know about Ventus?" Natsu asked.

"Vanitas told me about him. Said I should have all the information I need for when I go against Xehanort." Sora answered.

However, Vanitas had neglected to mention where exactly Ventus' heart had ended up after it was lost.

"What about Vanitas?" Wendy asked, now quite worried for him.

"I think that when Xehanort took some of his power and embedded it into Vanitas. He did the same with his other lackeys to make them into pure darknesses. How he managed to survive it, I have no idea."

"But how does-" Gray started. He then froze when he remembered Sora talking about the yellow eyes. "Uh… Sora? Do those yellow eyes have something to do with Xehanort's power?"

Sora nodded. "They're the sign that you've Xehanort's power."

Lucy widened her eyes when she realised what he was implying. "If Vanitas doesn't have Xehanort's power to support him, then..."

"Exactly." Sora said.

No one said anything for a few seconds. It was broken when Natsu yelled out "STEP ON IT, ERZA!"

Erza grinned. "With pleasure." With that, Erza channeled more magic into the Vehicle, causing its speed to increase vastly and have them zoom towards their destination.

….

Lisanna, Vanitas and the Trimens continued down the tunnel, keeping a sharp eye out for any entrances or clues to where the hostages were. The Blue Pegasus team, granted, were constantly trying to flirt with Lisanna, who had transformed back into her regular form, eventually irritating the woman.

Vanitas stayed out of the whole thing, trying his best to hide the pains from his fading darkness. He noticed that his power was getting weaker after his fight with Demyx. He remembered when he went one on one with that monster that almost demolished Team Natsu; remembering how easily he defeated that thing, Demyx should've been a cake-walk.

Instead, he saw that his strength was diminishing, fading away piece by piece. He then recalled the image of seeing Ventus after Vanitas was extracted from his heart, his life slowly fading away. Vanitas didn't feel the same effect as Ventus at first, but after a while, he found himself getting weaker. It was one of the many things that attributed to his emotional anguish.

After Xehanort implanted part of his heart into Vanitas, the dark warrior finally had something to support him. But now that it was gone… there is no hope for him. It was just as well, a cruel fate for one of the dark. That's all there is to it.

Ichiya, who had decided not include himself in the younger three's attempts to flirt with Lisanna, suddenly stopped and pointed a finger up in the air, his nose twitching as it caught a scent.

Seeing this, the rest of the group stopped.

"What is it, Sensei?" the younger Trimens asked.

" _Sniff-Sniff._ The hostages are nearby." Ichiya said, pointing towards the the side of the tunnel on his left. "And they are through there."

Ren walked forward and glared at the wall that Ichiya was pointing to. "Allow me." He said. with that, he generated a large amount of wind into his hands and launched it towards the wall. Upon impact, it created a small whirlwind that they all had to brace themselves for, not wanting to be blown away or knocked down by it.

Seeing how his attack didn't even leave a mark, he gritted his teeth. "Dammit! That should've worked!" he exclaimed.

"Well at least we know that Ichiya was on to something. "Eve pointed out. "No way Ren's attack would've been deflected if it was normal."

Vanitas eyed different parts of the wall, trying to find a weak spot. After a few quick ganders, his eyes caught parts of the wall moving. Or rather, it was like a slight distortion. Coming up with a theory, Vanitas took a few steps back and coated his Keyblade in dark energy.

"Huh? Vanitas, what are you-" Hibiki started.

"You might want to take a few steps back." Vanitas interrupted.

With that, Vanitas charged towards the wall, both his hands gripping the handle of the weapon. When he was close enough, Vanitas spun around and swung the weapon around him, giving the dark warrior the appearance of a buzz-saw. The Keyblade struck the wall, but instead of being sliced into pieces, the force of the attack, as well as the power of the dark energy coating the weapon, instead caused the wall to explode.

As Vanitas blasted through the wall, he came to a stop, kneeling low and his weapon still outstretched. A couple of seconds later, he dematerialised the weapon and looked around where he was.

On the outside, Lisanna looked at Vanitas with a look of confliction, still upset about his news. The Trimens, however, all paled and their jaws dropped to the floor, clearly not happy about having been shown up so easily.

" _MEEEEEEEN!_ " Ichyia cried in an upset tone of voice as he slowly fell towards the ground, the shock being too much for him.

"What? How?" Hibiki cried.

"How could he burst through that wall so easily?" Ren asked with pure anger in his voice.

Eve lowered his head in shame. "How can we face the ladies after being proven to be so weak?"

"Your magic strength had nothing to do with it." Vanitas said after hearing Eve's comment.

This caught their attention. "What do you mean?" Eve asked.

Vanitas turned back and eyed the edges of what remained of the wall. "The wall would only respond to darkness. Would've opened if I just tapped the wall."

"Then why did you blow it up?" Lisanna asked.

Vanitas made a small smirk. "It's a lot more fun this way." He pointed out.

At this, Hibiki, Ren and Eve grinned. "As expected of a member of Fairy Tail." Eve voiced.

"Actually… huh?"

Vanitas suddenly felt weaker. His legs gave way and he fell onto his knees. He was then on all fours ans he tried to keep himself off of the ground. The Trimens, startled, rushed over to Vanitas to see whaat the problem was. Lisanna, quickly forgetting her anger towards Vanitas for a moment, widened her eyes with shock.

"Vanitas!" she exclaimed.

Vanitas pushed himself back onto his feet and pushed away the Trimens, his eyes looking feral with the sudden anger he was feeling. "I'm… fine." He tried to say.

"You don't look fine, my friend." A recovered Ichiya said. "Might I suggest you rest for a moment?"

Vanitas glared at Ichiya for a brief moment, which sent chills down the spine of the other Trimens. However, Vanitas then relaxed and let out a small sigh.

"Fine." He said to Ichiya with a note of irritation in his voice. He relaxed and asked the Trimens to release him.

As Vanitas went over to one side of the room, Lisanna kept her eyes on him, clearly bewildered and worried about what was going on.

"What… what's happening to him?" she asked with a worried tone.

Ichiya heard her, but he didn't answer. Instead, he kept his gaze on Vanitas, putting the pieces together that he might not have long left to live.

….

Team Natsu, Sora and Derek came to an abrupt stop after reaching a secluded forest area. Unfortunately for Natsu, who was still on top of the vehicle, the sudden top, added with the velocity that they were travelling, caused the Dragonslayer to fly off the top and fly through the air, screaming comically as he ended up crashing into a nearby tree.

"Are you okay, Natsu?" Wendy asked worryingly.

"Relax, that hothead's survived worse." Gray commented.

Natsu got back on his feet, granted with a tree trunk now encasing his head, and turned towards Gray with smoke burning through cracks in the trunk. Whatever Natsu had been saying as he spoke was muffled by the trunk, although it was clear that he wasn't happy.

Sora looked around, hoping to find some clue as to where they had gone. He looked over to Wendy. "Are you sure you and Natsu got the right place?"

Wendy nodded. "Are noses are super sharp, even when they were flying through the air, we were able to catch onto their scents."

The trunk trapping Natus was obliterated in a ball of flame, freeing Natsu to take in a large gulp of air before speaking. "Good thing it wasn't raining. _Then_ we'd be lost." He commented.

Erza swivelled her head from side to side, looking for any clues. "Where could they have gone?"

"I don't know." Derek answered. "But I hope we find them soon. If what he says is right, then we could be in really deep craAAAAAAAAAHH!"

Derek hadn't managed to finish what he was wanting to say, as instead he took a wrong step and accidentally fell down a hole that was the width of a tree.

As he fell, the rest of the crew looked down the hole, waiting for the sound of him landing.

"OOF!" Derek huffed as he landed with a sudden 'thud', making the rest of the crew jump.

"You okay down there?" Sora sked.

"I'll live… I think." Derek said, his voice echoing as it traveled back up the tunnel. "Huh? Wait. There's another tunnel down here. It looks like it leads to something."

Natsu slammed his fists together. "I bet that's where those black-coat wimps are hiding."

"Looks like it." Lucy added.

The group was silent for a moment before they all looked at each other, nodding slightly, then jumping into the whole one by one. After a surprisingly long fall, each member landed on their feet, except for Lucy, who accidentally landed on Derek.

"OOOOOWW!" the Demonslayer cried.

"Heh–heh, s-sorry Derek." Lucy apologized.

Natsu looked down the tunnel that Derek spoke of. With a fanged, blade-like smile forming on his face, he ignited both his fists and charged down the tunnel.

"NATSU! WAIT UP!" Lucy cried, helping Derek onto his feet and chasing down Natsu soon after. The rest of the crew followed suit. As they Ran, Sora thought over how he would be able to fight the Organization members if they were to come into contact with them. He may have improved slightly, but he was still nowhere near strong enough to fight them yet.

… But when has that ever stopped him before.

"Hold on, guys. We're on our way." He muttered to himself.

 **Right, I think I'll leave it at that for the time being. Before anyone asks, Yes, I will keep writing this story until the end. It may take some time, is all.**

 **Looks like Vanitas isn't doing so well, poor thing. The reason I wrote this condition down for him was because I thought, since Vanitas was basically torn apart from Ventus' heart, I'd imagine that he'd have received similar damage, like when you look at both torn edges of a ripped piece of paper. Sorry if it upset anyone, but I'm sticking with it.**

 **Right, that's all I have to say for now. If anyone has anything they wish to say, feel free to leave a review or PM. See you later, have a nice day.**


	17. The Darkest Depths

In the dark cavern, the stone walls being as cold as ice and unable to block the chilling wind that flowed inside. In the center of the cavern rested two pillars. One shined with a brilliant, radiating light that would blind anyone who would look directly at it, or if it had not been mellowed by a layer of transparent material, so that it wouldn't burn away the eyes of anyone who stared at it.

Beside the pillar of light was a contrasting, filled with a strong concentration of darkness. Looking at it would fill one with both fear and awe from the shadows, as it seemed to radiate with as much power as the light.

However, despite the brilliant sight, it was shadowed by the several cages that rested on the stone ground, surrounding the pillars. Within the cages, rested several young girls, all wearing torn and worn versions of the clothes they wore before being kidnapped. Each one of them had lost the strength to even sit on their knees, resting on their sides as they felt themselves weakening.

The bottoms of the cages each had a magic circle. They glowed with a dark purple energy, not stopping for a second.

One of these girls, who had dark brown hair, equally brown eyes and sullen features. Her eyes were just barely open as they glazed around the room. She wasn't able to remember much of before she was brought here. The last she could was looking into the face of her kidnapper. The image of his ember eyes terrified at first. But now… it had been with her for so long that she became numb to it.

Part of her had hoped that there would be someone to rescue her. Her and the other girls who seemed like they had given up. While it seemed pointless, she continued to hope. Hope of some sort of guardian angel that would swoop in and save them all.

"… _There is no hope… who would bother… to save us now?_ " she thought, her hopes of rescue having finally been diminished.

She was, however, momentarily brought out of her haze when she felt the cavern shake. She wasn't sure what had happened, but it was like there was an explosion nearby. Had she the strength, and the freedom, she would've stood up and checked to see what was going on. All she could do for the time being, however, was ponder before falling back into her thoughts.

Before she could, there was a loud explosion, coming from the wall, not too far away from her cage. She looked over, seeing fragments of stone and a large cloud of smoke coming from the source of the explosion.

"Well, that was my bad." Came a new voice, one that she never heard of before. This caused her to widen her eyes more, igniting a sense of curiosity that she hadn't felt in a while.

"I'll admit, I may have added a bit too much exploding lacrima for that new _parfum_ recipe." Came the same voice.

"A BIT!? YOU NEARLY BLEW US TO PIECES!" came a feminine voice, clearly not happy about the explosion.

"To be fair, with Vanitas weakened, we need something to get through the walls." Came the voice of a young man.

"Don't… Remind… me…" came the voice of another young man, only his was of a darker tone and much more serious. He also sounded unhealthy, as if he was coming down with something.

Through the large gap in the wall, came three young men, and one short… rather unpleasant-looking man, all of them dressed in suits. One of younger boys, who had hair hair and dark skin, pointed over towards her.

…..

"Lisanna! Vanitas! Over here!" Ren yelled before running over towards the cages, with Hibiki, Eve and Ichiya close behind.

Through the opening created via the exploding formula Ichiya had made, Lisanna had walked into the chamber, currently in her normal form, with an exhausted Vanitas hanging off of her shoulder. She looked at the dark warrior with concern.

"Are you sure that you're okay?" she asked him.

Vanitas turned his head to look at her, showing that he was just barely able to keep his eyes open. "Do I look okay?" he asked, clearly annoyed by the question.

At that, Lisanna pouted at him. "There's no need to sound so mean, you know."

She set Vanitas on the ground, making sure that he was resting up against the wall. She knelt down beside him and gave him a small grin. Soon after, she ran to catch up with the Trimens. When she arrived, she had hoped that the group of Blue Pegasus mages would be working to ensure that the women would be safe and prepare for their escape.

However…

"My, my, it is simply criminal that one with such beauty would be locked up." Hibiki said to one of the girls he was helping.

"Soon, the sun will shine upon your goddess-like form, my dear." Eve added to another, holding one of her hands in a formal manner.

"You really are pretty, you know… not tat I noticed or anything." Ren said to a third begrudgingly.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!"

After seeing that, Lisanna lost her temper and swiped at them all in her cat form, knocking all three into the air and into the ceiling. They slowly peeled off, showing that there was enough force behind the strike to leave imprints in the ceiling.

Ichiya appeared from behind Lisanna, crossing his arms while shaping his hands in the shape of guns.

"Young ones, now is not the time to flirt with these beauties." He started, causing Lisanna to glare at him. "Our top priority is to ensure their escape and safe return to their homes.

The three shot back up and saluted towards Ichiya. "Yes Mentor!"

Taking their leader's word as law, they got to work, making sure that they were okay. Lisanna had volunteered to keep an eye out if the people who kidnapped them. She made her way back towards the hole Ichiya created, seeing that Vanitas was still resting where she had placed him.

She would've expected him to get back on his feet and search all over for the Organization members, so seeing that was quite a surprise. She then grinned at the dark warrior.

"Guess you're a little tired out, huh?" she asked him.

"…"

Vanitas didn't answer. Lisanna was slightly annoyed by this, but continued to speak on.

"Ichiya told me that you're running low on energy for some reason. And that you're… not recovering from it." she looked back at him. "Is that why you were wanting to leave Fairy Tail? Because you're sick?"

"…"

The silence was now starting to REALLY irritate her. "Vanitas. I know this kind of thing is difficult to talk about. But you should've told us. We would've done everything… no… we WILL do everything we can to help you."

She knelt down in front of him. "When you and I stopped that guy that was working for the organization, the guy who kidnapped the girl, I saw the amount of power you had… but also… I could sense… 'pain'. Not physical… but the kind you get from being alone. You had to shoulder all your problems for all your life, or bury them away in hopes that they will go away. But you're not alone now. You have friends. People who want to help you.

She reached out a hand towards him. "We're friends, Vanitas. Friends help each oth-"

Lisanna didn't get to finish what she wanted to say. Instead, she saw that when she tried to place a hand on the side of his face, it seemed to… phase through.

A second later, Vanitas vanished.

"…"

Lisanna was wide-wide for a moment, trying to make sense of what was going on. It was only a second later she remembered, seeing one of the training sessions Natsu and Grey had with him, that he could make intangible copies of himself. Upon figuring this out, Lisanna could feel the anger slowly rising inside of her.

Eve jogged up to her. "Lisanna. Just to let you know, the girls are safe. They're malnourished and weak, but we'll be able to… huh?"

Eve noticed that Lisanna wasn't listening to him. When he tried to get her attention, she stood up, raised her fists into the air and screamed.

"YOU BASTARD!"

"… Rude." Eve noted, thinking that she was talking to him.

Lisanna heard him that time and turned. "No, not you. Vanitas. He's gone!"

Ichiya appeared from behind Eve, still in the same pose as before, only with a look of concern on his face.

"If that's the case, we need to find him." He stated seriously. "Lisanna, you an I will look for him. Eve, you, Ren and Hibiki will continue to help the girls. And remember…" he pointed up towards the air. "Be sure to wait until _after_ they've been rescued before flirting."

This had earned a surprisingly strong punch to the top of Ichiya's head, curtsey of Lisanna. She then grabbed him by the collar and dragged him away with her.

"Wha- Uh, Lisanna?" Eve studdered, surprised by the actions.

She didn't listen to him that time either. Instead, she was only thinking of one thing.

" _That pig-headed key-slinger and I need to have a very serious talk when I find him._ "

…

"So, Natsu, anything new?"

Natsu was currently on all fours as he used his heightened sense of smell to locate Lisanna and Vanitas. The rest of the group walked behind him, with Sora looking at Natsu with slight surprise.

" _I wonder if Goofy could do something similar?_ " he thought to himself, knowing that canines were well known for their sense of smell. He would have to ask him the next time he saw him. He knows Goofy won't mind. If anything, said friend would be curious himself.

Natsu brought his head up, hearing Derek speaking. He turned and answered him.

"I think I'm getting close… but… there's something weird going on." Natsu said.

Erza raised an eyebrow. "Weird how?" she asked him.

"I'm getting the scents of three… no, four more people." The Dragonslayer answered back.

At that, the whole group tensed, worried that someone was on Vanitas and Lisanna's tail already.

"Any idea who they are?" Lucy asked, hoping that they were allies.

Natsu checked the scent again. After a few scents, he raised an eyebrow, followed by having to re-check the scents again. After a moment, he smiled and turned back to the group.

"Don't worry. It's the Trimens."

"…"

At that, everyone else in the group, aside from Sora and Derek, all looked a bit doubtful. If not worried.

Erza looked like she had paled in horror, trembling with slight fear. "Di… did you say…"

Gray pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Not those guys again."

Sora and Derek looked at each other in confusion, prompting the Fire Demonslayer to find out what was going on with them.

"Is, uh… are these 'Trimens' bad guys or something?"

"Oh, no, not at all." Wendy said. "They're a team from the mage guild 'Blue Pegasus'. They're good people…"

"If not a bit creepy." Lucy said with a sigh. She herself could recall how they would often flirt with any pretty face they came across, which usually riled her up the wall, or just left her annoyed.

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Why would they do that?"

Before anyone could answer, gray raised a hand as to say stop. "Best not to think about it."

"Agreed." Stated the rest of Team Natsu.

With that, the whole group continued down the tunnel, with Natsu solely focused on following the scent before it faded away. After a couple of minutes, however, he stopped abruptly, his eyes widening again.

"You find something, flame brain?" Gray asked him.

Natsu didn't answer at first, deciding instead to dig into the ground. His teammates looked at him with looks of bewilderment, unsure of what caught his attention this time.

"Ah, here we go." Natsu said, finally pulling something out of the ground. He turned to face the team, revealing that he was holding a silver sphere. "Look at this, I think I found some treasure." He said happily.

"Awesome, great job, Natsu!" Happy yelled.

Natsu's feeling of triumph was short-lived, however, as Erza stood over him with one of her classic glares.

"Natsu… this isn't the time for a treasure hunt." She said with a dark tone of voice. "Now, keep sniffing."

"Uh, Aye, right away!" Natsu said, panicked by the threat of what Erza might do to him.

Before anyone else could get a word in, a strong light suddenly flooded the tunnel. They all saw that the light was coming from the sphere. It soon started to shake, followed by several cracks forming from the top down.

"What is the meaning of this!?" Carla yelled.

"Did Natsu hatch an egg?" Happy asked. As soon he did, he gave a cheeky smile. "Aw, Natsu's a mommy."

Sora managed to look at the sphere without difficulty. One of the benefits of using powerful light based attacks was that one's eyes would become a lot more resistant to intense brightness. It was just as well, as Sora saw something inscribed into the face of the sphere.

The symbol of the Nobodies.

NATSU! THROW IT AWAY!" Sora yelled.

"Roger that." Natsu agreed, as he could tell that in a scenario like this, it was best to trust the experts. So, he turned away from the group and threw the sphere down as far as he could down the tunnel. Within half a second, the sphere exploded, creating a shockwave that was strong enough to send everyone flying back. To make matters worse, from where the sphere detonated, several jagged beams of white and black energy shot towards them.

Sora recognised those instantly. "Dodge those beams!" he yelled.

The Fairy Tail mages didn't need to be told twice, as hey all narrowly managed to avoid getting hit by the beams. The looked back and saw that they had sliced cleanly through the rocks they struck.

They all landed on their feet, watching as the beams faded away.

"Impressive."

Everyone perked up after hearing the new voice. Sora, Natsu and Happy were the only ones whose faces hardened in recognition of the owner of said voice.

"Xemnas." Happy said seriously, remembering what had happened the last time they encountered him.

Natsu turned to see a man in the Organization XIII coat, causing the Dragonslayer's fists to curl and tighten in anger. "You again…" he said with a dark tone that rivalled Erza's.

Sora simply slumped forward. "You've gotta be kidding me." He said.

Slowly, Xemnas reached up for his hood and pulled it down, revealing a smug look directed at Sora.

"Sora… how long has it been?" he said. "You seem to have recovered… slightly."

"…" Sora didn't say anything, but his face morphed into a determined glare, as well as summoning the Kingdom Key.

"It must be difficult. Having worked so hard to obtain the power to fight Xehanort… to prove how capable a wielder of the Keyblade you are… only to have been easily played." He said with a mocking tone. "To think, even your friend, Riku, had fallen into the darkness, but managed to retain his power and overcome it. And yet… all you've proven, time and time again, is that you're a child, unable to become a worthy wielder."

Sora didn't show it, but Xemnas' words stung him. Part of him had been struggling that he had been played so easily. That he had lost the power he built up defending the worlds over and over. That he wasn't able to become a master, and gain the power needed to save King Mickey's friends.

However…

Sora grinned back at Xemnas. "So?"

At that, Xemnas' smug look slightly faltered.

"Yeah… you kind of had a point, saying it was difficult. But let me tell you something." Sora redied his battle stance. "Every time before I fell down, I got back up. When I lost my power before, I got even stronger when I got it back. So no matter what happens, I'm gonna keep fighting, until I take you guys down."

Having heard all of the exchange between the two, the Fairy Tail members were worried by what Xemnas said to Sora, as the Keyblade wielder was trying hard to become strong again. But they were both surprised and relieved to see that Sora wasn't brought down, and was in fact more determined to fight.

"Awesome." Natsu said with a grin.

Xemnas was silent for a moment, before outstretching his hands, auras of energy forming around his hands.

"Bold words…" he started, his face forming into a glare of his own. "Now let's see how well they help you."

With that, Xemnas shot out his hands, firing two orbs of energy. A second later, they expanded into large spheres, incinerating anything that caught within them, even part of the walls and ground. Natsu was pulled out of the way by Happy, as well Wendy by Carla. Lucy and Gray jumped back, while Erza and Derek raised their hands, each summoning magic circles.

"REQUIP!" Erza cried, suddenly becoming enveloped in a bright light. When it faded, she was dressed in black armor with two wings protruding from her back, arms with a single sword.

Derek pulled back a fist and dashed forward, his eyes suddenly glowing red with his rising fury.

"FIRE DEMON: RAGING CLAW!" he roared, swiping at the spheres of energy. Much to everyone's surprise, he was able to swipe clean through them, causing them to dissipate.

Xemans widened his eyes slightly in surprise, but still kept his glare. "Quite the power you hold, boy."

Derek grinned at the Nobody. "You bet. You can count of Hellfire to tear and burn through anything." He said with a cocky grin. "I'll give you another example!"

With that, he activated his Demonslayer form, so as to increase his power output. Summoning more fire. He held it in one hand, before crushing it and allowing it to coarse around his forearm. The flames soon formed into a shield, which he held up and charged towards Xemnas.

Xemnas wasn't going to let the boy show him up again. "GUARD!"

A square barrier formed in front of the Nobody, which effectively blocked Derek's shield. Before the Demonslayer could recover, Xemnas spun and struck him in the head with his foot, before swiping at Derek's feet with the same foot. As Derek was about to hit the ground, he saw Xemnas summoning a blade of energy, which seemed to be aimed towards the Demonslayer's neck.

" **SKY DRAGON ROAR!** "

A powerful tornado shot at Xemnas, colliding and sending him back, allowing Derek to land safely and move out of the way.

It was just as well, as he saw the Titania fly past him, brandishing her sword at the Nobody.

"This is the end for you!" she yelled before swinging the sword at full force.

Before the sword struck him, his form began to blur, before he seemed to split into two. When the blade collided with the ground, creating a wide crater, she looked and saw that there were _two_ Xemnas', one at both her sides.

"Begone!" they both exclaimed, firing volleys of lasers at her.

Seeing tham coming, Erza glowed once more, replacing her armor with a samurai hakama, bandages covering her chest and two katanas. As the beams were about to hit her, she used her blades to hit the beams, destroying them in an instant.

As they kept firing at her, neither Xemnas' noticed the two charging towards them.

" **FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!** " Natsu roared, landing a fist in one of the Xemnas' face. This caused him to disappear.

"This guy's mine!" Sora yelled, striking Xemnas in the chin with the guard of his Keyblade, followed by spinning around and using the teeth to land a blow to Xemnas' side.

As the Nobody stumbled backwards, he saw the Keybearer leap up and was about to land a downward strike to Xemnas' head. The Nobody summoned his Ethereal Blades, crossing them together and Blocking Sora's attack.

"You're an eyesore!" he roared, pushing Sora back down to the ground. He swiped at the Keybearer, only for Sora to quickly dodge underneath, prompting the Keybearer to swiftly whack Xemnas in the chin once more. With Xemnas disoriented, Sora stuck his Keyblade in the ground and spun himself around, using the momentum to slide forward and land a strong hit on Xemnas.

As Xemnas skidded to a halt, his glare became more intense. It seemed that Sora was regaining some of his strength. It shouldn't have been possible to recover at this rate.

"Open! Gate of the Golden Bull!" Lucy yelled, swiping down one of her keys. "TAURUS!"

With that, a large minotaur appeared before everyone, battle axe in hand. He looked over towards Lucy. "Wha's up, Miss Lucy. I see you're bod's looking as sexy as ever." He said, his eyes scanning up and down her figure.

"NOW'S NOT THE TIME!" she roared at him, before turning towards Xemnas and bringing out her whip. "Alright. STAR DRESS!"

Lucy was soon enveloped in a green light. When it faced, she was wearing an outfit that made her look similar to Taurus. Taking the opportunity, she lashed out with her whip at the Nobody, only for him to dodge and instead create another crater in the ground.

"I got him, Miss Lucy!" Taurus said, raising his axe as he was about to hit the Nobody. Seeing the axe coming from a mile away, however, Xemnas spun in the air and planted his feet on the side of the axe, firing a large ray of blue and black static energy, which upon hitting Taures caused the Minotaur to become immobile.

"GAAAGGH! This guy's… got some mooooves!" he said, despite being racked with pain.

Taking the opportunity, Gray slammed a fist into an open palm, before yelling " **ICE MAKE: LANCE!** "

Several lances shot out from Gray's hands, all of which flied towards Xemnas. Seeing them coming, the Nobody, brought Taurus in front of him and used him as a shield, having the celestial spirit take all the lances instead of him.

"MMOOOO!" Taurus cried in pain as the lances skewered him.

"Ah, damn it!" Gray yelled.

Xemnas saw that Gray was worried about the bull, deciding to use this distraction to his advantage. He sent another wave of power into the beam, causing Taurus to be shot at Gray,making them both collide into another wall. Taurus slowly pealed off the wall, revealing that Gray had become embedded.

"You're gonna pay for that, bud!"

Xemnas turned to see Lucy about to strike him again with the whip. However, as the whip's tip was about to strike him, he summoned another barrier, blocking the attack and, as the barrier faded, allowed him to catch onto the whip's tip. He spun around, causing Lucy to be spun around like a wrecking ball.

"HEEEY! THAAAT'S NOT FAAAAIR!" she yelled.

Sora and Wendy dashed towards Xemnas, hoping they could help Lucy. However, instead, Xemnas swiped Lucy at them, sending all three crashing into a wall. They were disoriented and bruised as a result, but they would live.

"MAX SPEED!"

Happy flew at Xemnas as fast as his magic would let him, aiming himself at Xemnas' head. Hoever, the Nobody saw Happy and caught him with a single hand, encasing Happy's face.

"Did you think the same trick would work twice?" he asked, a dark aura forming around his arm.

As Happy saw the aura he began to panic, but his screamed were muffled by the Nobodies hand, while his eyes showed that he was terrified.

"Release him!"

Erza was zooming towards Xemans, with the aid of Carla, with her Katanas ready to strike. She swiped at Xemnas' arm, prompting Xemnas to let go, just narrowly avoiding the blade.

Happy's eyes were completely white with shock, having nearly been hit with the blade himself. "Whoa, that was close!" he yelled.

"Least you're okay, bud."

Happy looked up and saw Natsu standing over him. Beside him was Derek, who had a contrasting look of fury directed at Xemnas. Both fire mages looked at each other, both of them thinking the same thing.

"You ready to try it out?" Natsu asked the Demonslayer.

"No time like the present." Derek quipped.

With that, the two mages summoned as much fire as they could, before transferring them to an arm each.

"The burning flames of my right hand…" Natsu started.

"And the raging flames of my left…" Derek continued.

Their respective flames began to become more intense. "Put them together…" they both fist-bumped forcefully, creating a strong shock-wave and allowing the flames to fuse, creating an undeniably intense and powerful blaze.

" **UNISON RAID -** **FIRE DEMON DRAGON: BRILLIANT FLAME!** "

They both launched the flame directly at Xemnas, the fire becoming so intense that it was damaging the stone all round them. Xemnas could do nothing to block the attack. He tried to warp out of the way, but before he could, he felt a sharp pain surge through his back. Before he the flames hit him he heard a whisper.

" _You're already too late._ "

The flames enveloped Xemnas, burning away part of his coat and severely scorching his skin. He roared from the pain for a brief moment, before slowly becoming silent. After the flames faded, Xemnas was seen still standing on his feet.

"Whoa." Derek said, surprised that the Nobody was still standing after that.

As Natsu was about to complain at how the attack should've brought him down instantly, the sound of a blade slashing the air could be heard, followed by Xemnas finally collapsing to the ground. All eyes turned to see a familiar face standing there.

"THERE YOU ARE!" Natsu roared at Vanitas.

Clearly angered, Natsu leaped into the air with both his fists ignited, planning to give Vanitas (what he believed to be) a well-deserved punch to the face.

The dark warrior simply leaned to one side, letting the Dragonslayer fly past him and crash into a stone wall.

The rest of the group sweat dropped at Natsu, probably thinking they could've predicted that.

"MMMPHH, MMMMMMMMPPH!" was all could be heard from Natsu as his head was trapped in the wall.

Wendy spoke for him. "Uh, Vanitas?" she started, prompting said keybearer to look towards her. "Natsu's wondering why you were wanting to leave the guild, and…" her face suddenly became tomato red. "And… said some other things that are best not repeated."

Vanitas didn't say anything at first, instead turning away from the group. He then allowed himself a small smile.

"Thanks for the concern." He said.

This caused the other members of the group to smile a little. Their expressions swiftly changed, though, as they saw that Vanitas was about to collapse.

"Whoa! Hang on!" Sora yelled, dashing over towards Vanitas.

Fortunately, Sora was able to catch him in time. After a moment, in which Vanitas was tensing his muscles to try and resist the pain that was searing through his body, Vanitas looked up at Sora, thinking he should thank him, at least.

His face became one of pure shock, however, when instead of Sora he saw, it was the same boy he had despised and fought all those years ago. He felt a cold shiver travelling through him whaen he saw the boy.

"V… Ven… tus?" Vanitas managed to say.

After blinking a couple of times, his vision showed him that he was looking at Sora, who wore a look of confusion on his face.

"Ventus?" Sora asked him, causing him to look behind him. He turned back and asked "Did you see him?"

"Uh… no, sorry." Vanitas said, trying to play it off as a mistake as he forced himself back onto his feet. He then turned towards the other Fairy Tail members. "Lisanna's this way. As well as the Trimens." He said to them.

"… Please… no…." Erza said before suddenly fainting, forcing Gray to catch her.

"Aw, geez, Erza. You gotta get over this fear at some point." The ice mage stated.

Natsu finally managed to pull his head out of the wall, seeming to have forgotten his anger as he asked "You know where they are? Then lead the way."

"Got it. Also-"

Before Vanitas could say anymore, all the Fairy Tail members heard the sound of a low laugh, they all turned their heads to where they think heard the source, only to see Xemnas standing back on his feet.

"Curaza." He said. As he did, he was coated in green energy, which seemed to heal every wound he had received in the battle, even the ones from the combination attack from Natsu and Derek. After he was finished healing, he looked over at Vanitas.

"You were that dense, that you left them alone?" he asked him. "You are as arrogant and foolish as ever."

"Take that back!" Natsu yelled, launching towards him with a flame-coated fist.

"Watch what you say about our friend!" Gray exclaimed, outstretching a foot towards Xemnas, his shoe shielded with ice armor.

Xemnas just shook his head and warped away from where he was standing, causing Natsu and Gray to accidentally hit each other with their attacks. Xemnas reappeared some feet away from them, another smug look on his face.

"Lisanna is able to handle you punks now, so can the rest of Fairy Tail." Vanitas stated, a hint of venom in his voice that even startled the Nobody slightly.

That didn't stop, Xemnas, however, from continuing on. "Her, perhaps… but what about the men with her… and the victims you are trying to rescue?"

Xemnas was coated in darkness, which soon faded, revealing that Xemnas had faded as well. There was an uncomfortable moment of silence as the words sank in to everyones heads.

"… Move." Erza stated.

At that, Vanitas took off first. Despite his weakened state, he was able to run exceptionally fast. As he ran, the rest ran after him.

During this, Vanitas' face morphed into a mask of stone, the only sign of emotion present being how his eyes were slowly shrinking, his anger rising in a proportional manner.

" _If you guys are planning what I think you are…_ " Vanitas' eyes briefly flashed red. " _Then I'll make sure it doesn't happen… no matter what._ "

…..

"Alright, is that everyone?"

Hibiki and the kidnapping victims were all standing outside, right at the bottom of a steep cliff. They had exited through an opening which the Trimens had used to enter the cavern in the first place. It was just as well they found it to begin with, as it seemed like a safe location.

The Archive magic user was going over several pictures that he took of the girls, scanning the crowd at the same time to make sure everyone was accounted for. Lisanna wasn't thrilled by the idea, as she assumed that he was just wanting to take pictures of pretty girls to stare at.

She was surprised, however, when he stated that, while he couldn't help but flirt, he wouldn't stoop that low. Putting it all behind them for now, Hibiki continued to scan the crowd… until he noticed his eyes widening.

"Uh… We've got a problem." Hibiki said to Lisanna.

"Hmm? What kind?" she asked him.

"The kind that involves missing a person that's supposed to be part of the group here." Hibiki answered, rotating the screen and showing Lisanna the picture of the girl in question.

Lisanna narrowed her eyes. " _Huh? Why does she look… familiar?_ " she thought to herself. Deciding to stay focused on the task in hand, she turned away and ran back into the tunnel. "I'll go find her, back in a bit."

After a few minutes, as Lisanna had morphed into the form of a cheetah, which was similar to her cat form, only that there was a brown and beige cheetah pattern, she was back in the room where the girls were imprisoned, as well as the pillars of Light and Darkness. Her eyes, for some reason, couldn't be torn away from the pillars in question.

"What… exactly are those for?" she asked out loud.

"Glad you asked, kitty-kat."

At that, Lisanna turned around, seeing another man in the black coat. His arms seemed a lot skinnier compared to Xemnas. she readied herself, curling her claws and ready to pounce. At this, the black coated figure smiled underneath his hood.

"Oh? Looks like this kitty's got claws, huh?" he said. straight after, he summoned two arrowguns, pointed the one in his right in his right hand. "Let's see how you're on your feet."

With that, he fired off a storm of beam-like arrows at Lisanna, forcing her to jump across the ground. She was surprised at how fast she was, just as she was amazed at Xemnas' strength and skill. She was smart to have stayed in her cheetah form, as she was able to make sure that none of them hit her.

"What the hell!?" Lisanna cried.

She performed a back flip and used her claws to catch onto the roof, followed by her dashing across the ceiling until she was well behind the opponent. When she was ready, she bounced off of the wall, swiping her claws at his head.

Before her claws could strike, the figure suddenly vanished from view.

"Clever little sneak." He said with a bit of surprise.

Seeing what she was capable of, he decided to up his own game. He warped around the cavern multiple times, firing off several shots at the girl. This initially surprised by this. It reminded her of one of the twelve Spriggans, who was able to manipulate space.

It seemed that this person had similar abilities.

Lisanna leaped to her left, followed by poncing towards the man. Before he could fire off another shot, Lisanna managed to land a kick at the bottom of the weapon, momentarily affecting his grip on the weapon. She took the opportunity to land a kick to his stomach, followed by a flipping backwards, landing a feel to his jaw. She finished by using the tail of her form to grab onto his leg, throw him up into the air and leaping up after him to slash across his back with both paws.

Lisanna landed on the ground with a crouch, followed by the black coated figure landing on his front, apparently rendered unable to move from the attacks the take-over mage had dealt.

"Good thing I got that extra practice in." Lisanna said to herself, thinking back to some of the sparring matches she had with Vanitas. She walked other to the figure and turned him over, taking off his hood, revealing the man with the yellow eye and eyepatch that spied on the Guild before.

"Alright, bud. Where's the other girl?" Lisanna asked seriously.

The man with the Eyepatch gave her a look of fake confusion. "Huh? Girl? What girl?" he asked in a mocking tone.

Lisanna responded by holding one of her paws directly over his scarred face. "Don't play dumb with me!" she exclaimed.

At that, he gave her a smirk. "Oh, _that_ girl!" he said in mock astonishment. "You should've said so. Look over there."

Lisanna looked to where the man was pointing, only to see the missing girl in question suspended, midair, with nothing to support her.

Lisanna gasped before saying "Hold on! I'm comi-"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The man said while clicking his fingers.

Suddenly, a huge number of the arrows from his weapon appeared around her, surrounding her in the form of a sphere. This caused Lisanna to stop abruptly. She turned back to the man, only to have his arrowgun pointed directly in between her eyes.

"The name's 'Xigbar', by the way… kitty kat."

Lisanna gritted her teeth. "If you hurt her-"

"Oh, you gonna threaten me?" he asked, a dark leer forming on his face. "All that makes me wanna do is to fill her up with arrows." He stated, raising his hand. As he did, the arrows seemed to glow more intensely."

Seeing this, Lisanna said "Wait! Stop!" holding her paws out to him, now hoping they could reason. "Don't hurt her!"

"…" Xigbar's expression changed to one of consideration, now thinking of a deal he could make with the girl. "… I might not… but on one condition."

Now, Lisanna was looking at him warily. "What is it?"

Xigbar pointed at her with his free hand. "You take her place."

This caused Lisanna to tense up. She tried briefly to think of something else to do, preferably wanting to make it out of this alive. However, she wasn't able to think of an alternative. Reluctantly, the Take-Over mage nodded.

"Great choice, kid." Xigbar said, clicking his fingers, causing Lisanna to be surrounded by countless arrows.

Lisaana turned around, hoping to see the girl safe. However, she saw that she was still surrounded by arrows herself.

"HEY! I thought we had a deal!" she cried at the sharpshooter.

"I said I _might_ not. Give me a sec to think." He said. he tilted his head to one side for a moment before saying. "Nope. Sorry girl." He said, raising his free hand, prepared to fire that arrows.

"NO!" Lisanna cried.

"DEEP FREEZE!"

A shard of ice flew past Lisanna, striking Xigbar directly in the face, followed by completely being encased in ice.

Surprised, Lisanna turned and saw some familiar faces running into the cavern.

"W-WHAT!" Lisanna cried, seeing Team Natsu, Derek and Sora running in with Vanitas. "What are you guys doing here!?"

"Talk Later!" Gray yelled. " **ICE MAKE: SHIELD!** "

Lisanna was suddenly surrounded by a sphere of ice, which quickly shattered and smashed into the arrows, knocking them all away.

Natsu looked up and saw the other girl trapped by the arrows. "Hold on, lady!" with that, Natsu generated some fire and spun himself around.

" **CRIMSOM LOTUS: EXPLODING FLAME BLADE!** "

A twister of fire flew at the girl. Luckily, the flames weren't hot enough to cause any harm, but there was enough force for the flames, which flew around her, to knock away the arrows. When they were all gone, he jumped up, held her bridal style and landed back to the ground.

Happy flew over him. "Well, that's the closest Natsu's ever gonna get with picking up the ladies." He said.

"Say that again, I DARE ya!" he yelled back, a comic look of anger on his face.

Vanitas, despite being exhausted at this stage, was able to stand on his feet fairly well. He walked over towards the girl. He stared at her for a moment, having a strange feeling that he had seen her before. It only took him a few seconds to recognise this girl.

"Damn. So _this_ is where you were taken." He said. he looked over to Lisanna. "Lisanna, I think I found Ms. Jessica Hearthfire."

At that, Lisanna gasped. After their job with the Kershaw family, said family had spread the news of what they had done, which prompted other families to reach out to them. The Hearthfire family specialised in baking, becoming well known for their breads and treats. They had requested that they find their daughter, in exchange, they would pay as much as they could.

It seemed a bit excessive, but Vanitas took the job, deciding that they would work the details out later.

"No way! Her parents are going to be thrilled!" she yelled.

Before anyone could say anything else, they heard the sound of something shattering, prompting them toturn and see the sharpshooter from before free and looking at them with an unimpressed facial expression.

"You guys had to go and do that." he said, not happy about being frozen in the slightest.

"Would you expect anything less?" Sora pointed out, his hands behind his head.

Xigbar didn't answer back, instead taking his two arrowguns and combining them into a single weapon. He pointed it towards the group, generating some energy at the tip before firing off a blast of strong energy.

"You've gotta be KIDDING ME!" Lucy cried.

Reacting instantly, Sora stepped out in front of the group, summoning his Keyblade and holding it up.

"DEFEND!" he cried, which summoned a clear barrier. The blast collided with the barrier. It held for about a moment, but because the Reflect was only at its beasic form at the moment, the force of the attack negated the counter effect, sending Sora back to the group.

Sora rolled along the ground a couple of times before stopping and landing on his backside. He looked back up at Xigbar, who was readying another shot.

"Time to say g'night, kido."

Sora began to worry a bit. He looked around, hoping to find something that could help. His eyes then caught the two pillars of light and darkness. He couldn't help but look at the pillar f darkness in awe, not just because of how much darkness was in there, but because of the level of power that wa…

Sora widened his eyes. "THAT'S IT!"

This caused everyone, including Xigbar, to look at the boy in confusion. Ignoring them, Sora got up and quickly grabbed Vanitas by the wrist.

"Huh? Sora, Wha. WHOA!"

With as much force as he could muster, Sora hurled Vanitas at the pillar of darkness. He then held his Keyblade like a Javelin and hurled it at Vanitas. As the dark warrior bouced off of the pillar, the Keyblade penetrated right through Vanitas' sternum.

The Fairy Tail members paled in horror at the sight of this.

"VANITAS!" they all cried.

Natsu stormed over to Sora and grabbed him by the hem of his shirt. "WHAT'S THAT BIG IDEA!" he roared.

Sora simply grinned and said "Just watch."

This was bewildering to everyone. They all turned to Vanitas, seeing him hanging off the Pillar. Their faces became looks of awe when they saw darkness flowing out of the wound.

Xigbar realised what was going on. "… You… little…CUNT!"

Xigbar separated the arrowguns and fired off several shots. As they flew towards Sora, however, someone appeared in front of him, holding out a hand and firing a blast of energy that sent the arrows scattering.

" **Don't even think about it.** "

The Fairy Tail members saw the figure in front of them.

"No way…" Gray said.

"Is that…" Happy continued.

Lisanna widened her eyes. "Vanitas?"

Vanitas was now standing before them, his strength restored and enhanced. He held his Keyblade in hand, now wearing his old combat suit. However, the red of the suit was replaced with park purple, the blue with bust black and the unversed Symbol replaced with the symbol of the two gear halves.

Vanitas looked at Xigbar with a pair of, now, indigo eyes, with the whites suddenly becoming as black as night. " **Is that all you got?** " he asked in a mocking tone, a strong, thick aura of darkness flowing from him.

Xigbar took a step back, seeing that the darkness from the pillar had transferred into him. Being made of pure darkness, this helped to empower Vanitas greatly. However… this would also serve to make him unpredictable, dangerous… capable of anything.

"I'm just getting started." Xigbar exclaimed, reloading his arrowguns.

Vanitas smirked at the Sharpshooter, readying his battle stance and letting the aura flow onto his Keyblade.

" **Maybe so… but it's time you see how powerless you REALLY ARE!** "

 **Okay, ladies and gents, i'll leave it at that for now.**

 **So, what do you think? I tried to make this chapter as good as i could, especially since i finally had the free time to get around to it.**

 **... Can't really think of anything else to say at the moment. Just that i'll be doing one more chapter for this story, then i'll be working on a different story.**

 **IMPORTANT QUESTION!**

 **since i'll be giving this story another break to work on another after the next chapter, what other story would you like to see updated. I'm just asking because i can't make up my mind and i'd like your opinion if that's okay.**

 **Right, see you all later, and have a great day.**


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